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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23781724">A Blue Hope (Star Wars Doctor Who Crossover Fanfic)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoolDudette/pseuds/CoolDudette'>CoolDudette</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Doctor Who, Star Wars Original Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Crossover, Death Star, F/M, Jedi, Movie: Star Wars: A New Hope, Science Fiction, Spaceships, The Dark Side of the Force, Time Travel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 21:12:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>36,350</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23781724</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoolDudette/pseuds/CoolDudette</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What would happen if the TARDIS (with the 10th Doctor and Rose) showed up on Princess Leia's ship at the start of A New Hope? How would things have turned out differently? Find out in A Blue Hope, where R2-D2 and C-3PO board the TARDIS, mistaking it for an escape pod, and drag the Doctor and Rose into the rebellion! There will be plenty of action, battle, and drama, and there will also be a Rose x Doctor romance developing gradually throughout the story. In what direction will the Doctor's influence tip this iconic struggle for power? Will he help the rebels win through with fewer deaths than in the original story? Or will Vader get his hands on the TARDIS and wreak havoc and destruction across the galaxy? The moment the TARDIS lands an alternate timeline is created, and nothing is certain.</p><p>I used to update this a few times a week but my University work has ramped up lately so now I've only got time to update once a fortnight. :/</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler, The Doctor (Doctor Who)/Rose Tyler</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>41</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. C-3PO and the Impossible Ship</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It seemed like the entire ship was in chaos. C3PO staggered down the corridor after his little counterpart, the sounds of explosions, blasters, and screams echoing throughout the hallway.<br/>
"We're doomed!" He cried, terrified.<br/>
R2D2 bleeped reassuringly as they neared the escape pods. One of them had its door open, and R2 wheeled inside.<br/>
"What are you doing?" C3PO gasped. "You'll be deactivated for sure!"<br/>
R2 beeped insistently, and with a groan, C3PO followed his friend into the pod. "I'm going to regret this!" The door slid shut behind them.</p><p>"What?" Came a surprised human voice, and C3PO turned to see a dazzling sight. The escape pod wasn't a pod at all. It was an entire ship, with a metal grating floor, a center console covered in knobs and levers lit by the glowing blue light of a column connecting it to the ceiling, a battered-looking white couch, and twisting  bronze tree-like structures that seemed to be for pure decoration. None of it was very clean. Hallways led off to other parts of the ship, and C3PO felt like his circuits were frying as he struggled to understand how a ship this size had fit into an escape pod compartment.</p><p>The exclamation of surprise had come from a well-dressed human male, tall and skinny with spiky brown hair. There was a female with him too, dressed in casual fashion with large, warm brown eyes and long blonde hair. Both humans were gaping at C3PO and R2D2.<br/>
"But - how did you get in here?!" The male spluttered.<br/>
"I think you forgot to close the door..." The female whispered.</p><p>R2D2 rolled towards them, beeping urgently about Darth Vader's attack and his mission on the nearby planet Tattooine. <em>Mission? What mission?<br/>
</em>"Well, I suppose we'd better get out of here, then." The male human threw a lever and the entire ship shuddered alarmingly. A rhythmic screeching noise came from the central column as the blue light started to move up and down. The human danced around the console, pressing buttons and turning knobs, and C3PO clung onto the railing near the door as the ship tilted wildly, first one way and then the other. The humans seemed to enjoy the chaos, laughing as the ship spun.</p><p>"I think I ought to warn you, Sir," C3PO called, "that you can't take off until you've opened the escape pod hatch, or we'll crash into the hull of Princess Leia's ship!"<br/>
"Don't worry, everything's under control." The human announced, but C3PO was still worried. "I give you... Tattooine!" With a juddering screech, the blue light stilled, and the ship banged back down onto the floor.<br/>
"This is where you wanted to go wasn't it, little guy?" The human patted the top of R2D2's dome-shaped head. R2 beeped sadly, and C3PO had to second his opinion - these humans were mad. Their ship hadn't even left the escape pod compartment.</p><p>"Come on R2," C3PO called, hurrying towards the door. "I think we'd better find another escape pod." The door slid open, and C3PO stepped out... onto sand. As his foot crunched down he stared around him in consternation. Golden dunes. Twin suns, radiating heat. A clear blue sky overhead. Behind C3PO, R2 squealed with excitement.<br/>
"I told you." The human male stepped out of his ship to stand beside C3PO. "I give you Tattooine."<br/>
"Oh dear," C3PO groaned, "I think I've gone mad!"<br/>
"Not at all, my mechanical friend." The human clapped C3PO on the shoulder. "I'm the Doctor, and this is Rose. And you are...?"<br/>
Despite his shock, habit took over. "I am C3PO, human cyborg relations, and this is my counterpart R2D2."<br/>
"Pleased to meet you." The female, Rose, called from inside the ship, and R2 gave a friendly beep.</p><p>"Now, you mentioned something about a Darth Whatsit?" The Doctor asked, turning back to face R2. C3PO turned with him, and received a second big shock. He had expected to see a great hulking ship parked just behind him but, although he could see into the Doctor's ship through the open door, externally it looked like it was just an ordinary escape pod. C3PO stumbled backwards, feet sinking into the sand. Yes, definitely an escape pod, so small it could only take two passengers. And yet this one could fit an entire ship inside it! C3PO's circuits just couldn't take it, and he fell to his knees.</p><p>"Whoa there, are you alright?" The Doctor crouched down beside C3PO. "What's the matter?"<br/>
C3PO just moaned incoherently as the Doctor took a shiny silver object out of his pocket and waved it over C3PO's body like a scanner.<br/>
"Mental circuits overloaded, I'm afraid," the Doctor said as R2 rolled out onto the sand, beeping in a worried tone. "Your friend will be just fine, he needs a moment to collect himself is all. Let's get him back inside." The blonde girl helped the Doctor lift C3PO up, and they half-carried, half-dragged him back into the impossible ship, and sat him down on the battered white sofa.</p><p>"This ship really is quite illogical..." C3PO whined.<br/>
"It takes some getting used to, doesn't it?" Rose sat beside him on the sofa, the cushion sinking a little under her weight.<br/>
"Looks like there's a moisture farm nearby." The Doctor was examining a small screen above the console. "R2D2, why don't you and I head there for some reconnoisance? Rose will look after your friend."<br/>
"Oh <em>what</em>, why do I have baby sitting duty?"<br/>
"Because you're such a sweet, kind girl." The Doctor poked his tongue out. "And because it's boring and I don't want to do it."<br/>
Rose rolled her eyes. "Fine, but don't be long! I don't want to miss out on anything."<br/>
"We'll just be a few minutes," the Doctor promised, heading for the door with R2D2 following him. "I'll find out if the people at this moisture farm know anything about repairing cyborgs. Maybe they can help poor C3PO recover from the shock we've given him."<br/>
The door slid closed behind them, and they were gone, leaving C3PO in the impossible ship with Rose.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Doctor, The Droid and the Desert</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>R2D2 and The Doctor go looking for a nearby moisture farm, where they hope to find someone to help them repair C3PO.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"She is a beautiful ship." R2 sighed as he rotated his headpart back to gaze at the contradictory machine.<br/>"She is, isn't she?" The Doctor replied, and R2 turned his head to stare at the Doctor so fast the friction almost overheated his neck circuits.<br/>"You speak my language!"<br/>The Doctor had used the lovely, lilting song-language of the astromech droids. R2 had heard humanoids describe the language as 'beeping', but their primitive ears simple couldn't catch its nuances. The pronunciation was a bit garbled coming from a human mouth and throat, but nevertheless it was easier on the ears than the low, growling speech most humanoids favoured.<br/>The Doctor winked. "I speak every language. Come on, moisture farm's this way! Allons-y!" He began striding confidently up the surface of a sand dune, a warm breeze flaring his trenchcoat out behind him. He cut a striking figure against the sunburnt blue of the desert sky.</p><p>R2 tried to follow him, but the loose sand of the dune slid down as his wheels disturbed it, the dune's outer surface shifting and dragging him with it. He couldn't get any traction.<br/>"Ah." The Doctor frowned. "Wheels in a desert, not really the best combination. Maybe you could go between the dunes...?" He dragged a hand through his windblown hair.<br/>"I can do it!" R2 declared indignantly, and he activated his thruster rockets, propelling himself elegantly up through the air to the top of the sand dune.<br/>"Aw, that's brilliant!" The Doctor laughed. "Fantastic cyborg design! May I?" He held up the silver scanner he had used on C3PO earlier. R2 chirruped in assent and the Doctor activated his device, the end lighting up blue and whirring with a buzzing sound. Scan complete, he examined the readings as he loped down the other side of the dune. R2 followed - a bit faster than he had intended, as the sand collapsed beneath his wheels and he was sent skidding past the Doctor to the bottom of the dune.</p><p>"Very impressive technology for this time period." The Doctor commented as he pocketed his scanner. He started up the next dune. "I think this must be the earliest galactic empire in the universe."<br/>"Empire?!" R2 flew up the side of the dune to await the Doctor at the top. "It <em>should </em>be a republic!"<br/>"Oh? What happened?"<br/>"Darth Vader happened."<br/>"Yes, you mentioned him before. Who is he?"<br/>That was a complicated question with a complicated answer, and memories of Anakin as he had once been stung R2's emotion relay. He waited for the doctor to catch up with him at the top of the dune before he answered. "He was my master once. And he was a good friend. Until the dark side took him."<br/>"I'm sorry." The Doctor breathed, looking down at R2, eyes dark with sympathy. "I'm so sorry. The betrayal of a friend is a terrible thing. I had a friend once - more than a friend, he was like a brother. We played together beneath the Gallifreyan sky. Comforted each other during the trials of the Academy. But he turned to darkness, too."</p><p>The two walked quietly together for a time, side by side down the dunes, the Doctor walking alone up them with R2D2 flying ahead and waiting at the top. R2 hadn't thought of Darth Vader as Anakin in a long time. It was very rare to meet someone who didn't know of the dark lord. That question, <em>who is he?, </em>burned in his mind. He was a boy with a love of pod racing. He was a child with a sweet, kind heart. He was a person who loved his mother. He was a person who loved his wife. He was a pilot, a fighter, a Jedi, a protector of the peace. He was a young man who had lost too much. He was a victim of the dark side. He was a vicious, violent killer.</p><p>After a while R2's emotion relay settled down and he was able to continue speaking with the Doctor. Despite his incredible spacecraft, he was very ignorant. He didn't even know about the Jedi, or the Force. R2 wasn't really designed for communication with humans the way C3PO was, so his explanations were probably a bit too technical, but as they slogged through the desert he tried his best to inform the Doctor about the fall of the Republic, the dawn of the Empire, and the terrible influence of the dark side of the force.</p><p>"Absolute power corrupts absolutely." The Doctor sighed. "That's true no matter what galaxy you're in."<br/>"No!" R2 retorted, "Yoda was never corrupted."<br/>"Yoda?"<br/>"One of the wisest and most powerful Jedi ever to have lived."<br/>The Doctor grinned. "He sounds good, this Yoda. Ah, there it is!" They had crested a particularly large sand dune, and there, about five hundred metres away, was the moisture farm. The dunes sank down into an expanse of flat desert about a kilometre across. Deep track marks showed that the flatness was maintained by the weight of enormous vehicles that must have passed through at regular intervals, and in fact one of those vehicles was there now, a great shining metal truck parked just beside the farm. Dotted here and there were the spindly, mechanical moisture collectors, about a dozen in total. At the centre of them stood the living quarters of the moisture farmers, carved out of sandstone into the dome-shaped architecture often found in desert country, with a deep pit in the middle providing a shaded area. Two figures, human by the looks of them, were making their way from the farm centre to the great truck, where smaller figures in brown robes awaited them.</p><p>The Doctor began trotting down the last sloping dune towards the moisture farm. As R2 followed the voice of a human female, sightly less growly than that used by the males of the species, drifted towards them through the dry desert air. "Luke? Luuuke!" One of the figures heading towards the truck broke off and ran back to the farm buildings, bent over the pit briefly, then returned to join the other.</p><p>By the time the Doctor and the droid had drawn close enough to call out a greeting, the two humans from the farm were conversing with the smaller creatures from the truck. They glanced up at the sound of the Doctor's voice. To R2's irritation he had switched from lovely astromech back to the grating tones of the common tongue.<br/>"Hello there! I'm the Doctor, and this is R2D2. Sorry to bother you in the middle of your trading, but I've got a cyborg back at my ship with overloaded mental circuits, and as this is the only piece of civilisation for miles I was hoping there might be someone here who could fix him?" He was addressing the two humanoids, who wore rustic tunics and breeches clasped shut with leather toolbelts. One was a middle aged man, heavyset but not chubby, wearing a worn robe over his tunic. The other was a teenage boy with cleaner, newer-looking garments, chin-length hair that bordered between brown and blonde, and pale blue eyes.</p><p>"If it's repairs you're looking for," the older man said with a gesture towards the smaller humanoids, "the jawa scavengers are experts at the task, and will probably give you a lift back to your ship for the right price."<br/>The three jawas huddled together and muttered to one another in high-pitched voices. "Ooh tini!" They were sinister-looking despite their diminuitive size, faces completely shadowed by deep hoods, orange eyes glowing balefully.</p><p>"Yeah..." The Doctor shook his head, "I have good hearing and a good ear for language, and one of them just told the others 'let's scam these suckers'. Is there anyone else?"<br/>The man guffawed. "Oh that's jawas alright, they're good with droids but you can't trust them as far as you can throw 'em. Fair enough. Well my boy here is pretty good with repairs." He placed a hand on the teenager's shoulder. "I can spare him for the rest of the day."<br/>"But Uncle Owen," the boy whined, "I was going to Toshi Station to pick up some power converters!"<br/>"I'll pay you for your trouble." The Doctor promised the teenager.<br/>"How much?"<br/>"R2," the Doctor whispered, "what's a reasonable price for half a day's labour?"<br/>"200 credits." R2 responded cheerfully, which was of course far more than was reasonable, but he wanted to entice these people to help his poor, fragile counterpart.<br/>"I'll give you 200 credits." The Doctor promised the boy, and his jaw dropped. "And 200 credits to you, too, for the inconvenience of losing your worker for half a day." The Uncle's jaw dropped, too. "It's probably easiest if I bring the droid to you so that you have access to all your tools. Is it alright if I park my ship beside your farm? It's very small."<br/>"Y-yes, that's fine." The man breathed, looming dumbstruck.<br/>"Great!" The Doctor turned to go, waving his hand at the two moisture farmers. "Back soon. Come on, R2. Allons-y!"</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Rose's Guilt</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>C3PO breaks down completely, and Rose thinks she may have killed him! R2D2 has a bold suggestion about how they might earn enough credits to pay the moisture farmers to repair C3PO.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The ambient bronze light of the TARDIS console room gleamed off the gold casing of the inert cyborg. C3PO sat slumped on the sofa, chin resting against his chest, motionless and silent. Rose sat next him, chewing a fingernail. She'd mentioned to C3PO that she was from the future, and then his head had sparked, and he'd shut himself off. Rose looked down at the robot next to her. He seemed... Dead. She bit into her fingernail more deeply, tasting blood. Had she killed him? A lump rose in her throat. How could she have been so stupid? Telling a robot who couldn't handle the TARDIS's physical existence about time travel. Of course it had been to much for him! Oh, where was the Doctor? A few minutes, he'd said, and he'd been away for over half an hour.<br/>"C3PO?" Rose whispered, nudging the droid for the hundredth time. Still, no response. "Please be okay..."</p><p>The TARDIS console thrummed contentedly. It had been making what Rose interpreted as attempts to reassure her - cheerful little sounds, the lights glowing a little brighter or a warmer shade - ever since C3PO had shut himself off. She hoped that meant that the robot was alright. The TARDIS seemed unconcerned, and since she was part machine herself, she had a better understanding of machines then Rose did. But Rose usually had no idea what the ship's various sounds, movements and light fluctuations meant. Although she loved the TARDIS, the enigmatic creature was just too <em>alien </em>to really understand.</p><p>Alien. Rose glanced once more at the golden robot seated next to her, head slumped down on his chest. He'd mentioned humans. <em>Human cyborg relations, </em>he had said. Here, in an alien galaxy. How could there be humans here, so far away from Earth? This far back into the past the Earth didn't even exist yet! So where had these humans come from? Had humans not evolved on Earth after all? Rose sighed and shook her head. The thought was too mind-boggling for her to cope with right now. Travelling with the Doctor was always like this, but she usually had him with her to deal with her confusion. She just couldn't get her head around time travel without his help. When would he get back?</p><p>Rose looked down at her outfit. Maybe she should take the time to get changed? It was a desert planet out there, after all, and blue jeans probably weren't the most appropriate leg-wear for traipsing through overheated sand. Blue jeans. Blue. Ugh, the TARDIS looked so ugly right now, with its basic, plebeian space pod exterior. Rose wished the Doctor would make it blue again - that glorious, rich blue, like the deep ocean on a summer's day. But he'd said that this far into the past the local culture might be beyond their understanding, and they should try and fit in as best they could to avoid conflict. She wasn't sure that landing on a ship that seemed to be in the midst of battle and whisking away a robot who had an important secret mission was the best way to fit in <em>or </em>avoid conflict, but the Doctor's cautions tended to go out the window whenever someone needed help. He was a knight in shining armour.</p><p>The creaking of the TARDIS door broke Rose from her reverie, and she leapt to her feet, heart in her throat. There he was, laughing at a joke R2D2 had made, swaggering into the TARDIS with his coat billowing out behind him. He always looked so magnificent. She clenched her fists at her sides, waiting for the moment when R2D2 caught sight of his friend and realised that Rose had made everything worse.<br/>The Doctor's laughter died as he looked up and met Rose's eyes. He strode over to her briskly, took her hands in his, scrutinised her face.<br/>"Rose? What's wrong?"<br/>He had eyes only for her, hadn't noticed the state the droid was in. But R2D2 had. The smaller droid rolled over to his counterpart and let our a mournful beep. The way the TARDIS Translation Matrix handled R2's language was strange. With most aliens Rose simply perceived them to be speaking English, but with R2 she heard both the sounds he was actually making, and layered on top of that, English words in a robotic monotone. In this case his beep translated to "C3PO's operating system has shut down."</p><p>"I didn't mean to." Rose's vision misted over. "I was just telling him about where we came from, and then his head sparked with electricity, and he stopped moving." A sob welled up from deep within her chest. "I'm sorry!"<br/>The Doctor held Rose's hands with one of his own, scanned C3PO with the other. He glanced at the sonic screwdriver. "Oh for goodness' sake, you two!" The Doctor cupped Rose's face between his hands. "Rose, it's alright, R2, don't be so dramatic. C3PO will be just fine. It's the droid equivalent of being knocked out. I'm sure those nice moisture farmers we met will have him fixed up in no time."<br/>Rose sobbed again, and the Doctor pulled her into an embrace. "You haven't killed any droids, don't you worry." He rubbed her back soothingly.</p><p>"What took you so long?" Rose mumbled into his shoulder. "A few minutes, you said."<br/>The Doctor gave her a squeeze. "Getting through the desert took a bit longer than I thought." He stepped back, hands on her shoulders, and flashed an apologetic smile. "But we found the moisture farm, and we've found a repairman for C3PO. We just need to get 400 credits to pay him with."<br/>Rose sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Okay. Is 400 credits a lot?"<br/>"No idea, but R2D2 said it was a reasonable price."<br/>"How do you plan to get the money? You don't know the first thing about money."<br/>"Sure I do, it's easy," the Doctor scoffed. "We just find someone who needs a job done, do the job, and get paid. OR, we could rob a bank!" A maniacal grin spread across his features. "That could be much more interesting!"</p><p>"The moisture farmers will be expecting us back soon. How will you have time to earn money?" R2 asked.<br/>"Time travel," the Doctor said, crouching down by the little droid.<br/>"What?"<br/>"My ship, it can travel in time. We'll just pop off and earn some credits, and then once we're done we'll travel back in time to arrive at the moisture farm five minutes from now. Then we'll get your friend fixed, help you find your Obi-Wan Kenobi, and be home in time for tea. Does that suit you?"<br/>R2 sounded skeptical, his voice more a blurt than a beep. "If you <em>really </em>can travel in time, then yes."</p><p>"Who's Obi-Wan Kenobi?" Rose asked.<br/>The Doctor rose and turned back to her. He lifted a hand and gently wiped a last tear away from her cheek. "R2 told me about him on the way back from the moisture farm. His old master, a Jedi knight. R2 has an urgent message for him."<br/>"What's a Jedi knight?"<br/>"Oh, I can't wait to find out! R2 told me all about them. They're warriors with incredible powers. Telekinesis, ESP, superhuman reaction speed. I really hope we get to meet one."<br/>Rose filed that away under <em>interesting but dangerous </em>and asked another question. "Doctor, when I told C3PO about time travel, it was like it broke him. But R2D2 seems fine. Why haven't R2's mental circuits become overloaded?"<br/>The Doctor gazed down at the smaller robot, who was standing forlornly beside his deactivated counterpart. "I suppose different droids might have different mental capabilities, like different people do. They seem to be designed to learn and grow. Maybe R2 is just more experienced than C3PO."<br/>R2 didn't respond, just kept staring at his deactivated friend.<br/>"I'm sorry, R2." Rose said, hanging her head.<br/>The Doctor squeezed her shoulder. "I think we need to cheer up our little droid friend, and the only way to do that is to get credits for the repair man. Now let's go rob a bank!" He bounded over to the TARDIS console and began tapping away at buttons. The TARDIS let out its usual <em>VWORP VWORP </em>as it took off into the time vortex.</p><p>"Doctor, isn't stealing a bit unethical?" Rose asked.<br/>"Not if we steal from a bad person who found their wealth through nefarious means. R2, this Darth Vader of yours, is he rich?"<br/>"Don't steal from Darth Vader."<br/>"Why not?"<br/>"He will slaughter you."<br/>Rose swallowed. What had they gotten themselves into? She took the Doctor's hand.<br/>"Well, then how do you suggest we get some credits?" The Doctor asked, unfazed by R2's sinister proclamation.<br/>Rose watched R2. He sat motionless for a moment, and then said, "my previous masters and I were once in a similar predicament. We needed parts for our ship, and though we had credits, back then they weren't accepted as currency on Tattooine. We needed local currency."<br/>"What did you do?" Rose asked.<br/>R2 turned to face her. "Pod racing."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Dear readers, thank you for reading as far as the third chapter! I hope to get a fourth one out in a few days. It would mean a very great deal to me if you left a comment with some feedback, be it praise or constructive criticism. Don't hold back if you have suggestions for things I could improve, I'd like to get better at writing and can only do that through your tips! :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Pod Racing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This chapter is from the point of view of an OC named Pug. Don't worry, he won't be a main character. I needed to create him to have a POV for the podrace but once the race is over I'll switch back to focusing on the Doctor, Rose, and their droid friends. Pug is a podracer pilot trained by the infamous Sebulba. He's competing in the annual Boonta Eve, the same race young Anakin took part in years ago. It's the biggest race of the year and is Pug's only opportunity to win enough prize money to buy his freedom from slavery. He HAS to win, but his opponents might have something to say about that... Especially the pilot of a sleek, deep blue racer of a design he has never seen before.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Pugwan padded on strong hands across the dusty arena. He clenched his feet nervously. The crowd flocking the arena stands was like a living entity of its own, a beast roaring over its prey - the sixteen repulsorcraft arranged in four rows of four at the start line. Pug's heart sank as he saw that his own pod had been placed in the second-to-last row. Theoretically, with the track as long as it was, starting position didn't make much of a difference. But Pug had been in enough races to know that overtaking was difficult and dangerous and the farther back your racer was, the more you had to risk your neck to get to the front. </p><p>Pug walked towards his racer, his hands kicking up puffs of dust. The air smelt of bantha manure, sweat, and the burnt iron tang of the racers' energy binders. Above the baying of the crowd could be heard the shouts of hawkers selling their wares (mostly roast meat of questionable origin), the chatter of maintenance droids, and the growling of engines.</p><p>Pug reached his racer. It was modelled after the one his coach had raced back in his prime, although, to Sebulba's fury, Pug refused to use any of the illegal modifications the original had sported. The racer's main features were its enormous engines, each one about ten times the size of the pod they dragged along. The engines were shaped like sideways Vs, and together they formed an X shape when connected in the middle by the energy binder. They, and the little pod connected to them by long cables, were spray painted burnt orange.</p><p>Pug hopped up into his pod as the flag bearers began marching across the start line, waving their standards. The crowd went mad. Sebulba's flag, as the most well known, was right at the front - it was the flag that Pug was representing. It was the same burnt orange hue as Pug's racer, with a thick black line down the middle, and angular yellow markings. Pug dragged his gaze from the flags and focused on getting his racer into gear.</p><p>With his butt planted firmly in the pod's seat his hands were free to manipulate the controls along with his feet. He couldn't understand how species without at least four dexterity limbs piloted a racer. Especially humans - their feet were completely useless, with those stubby little toes. Like most dugs, Pug walked on his hands and used his feet to hold things most of the time, but both his hands and his feet could be used on the controls of his racer. He gripped the throttle with his left foot, the joystick with his right, and with his hands he began going through the ignition sequence.</p><p>The energy binder connecting the engines to one another crackled and fizzed as it activated, purple lightning arcing through the air. The engines whined, a low-pitched sound at first but gradually rising as the rotors accelerated. The pod vibrated, chattering Pug's teeth. He gave the throttle an experimental twist. The engines roared and the racer bucked against its inertial dampeners. Pug released the throttle, satisfied. All was in order.</p><p>Pug glanced behind him at the last line of racers. They were in an even worse position than him. To get to the front they would have to overtake all twelve of the racers in the rows in front of them, and every overtake was a opportunity for another racer to crush their pod against a cliff or push them into an obstacle. Pug shuddered at the thought. The racer directly behind his was a design he had never seen before, with a fully enclosed pod that hid the driver from view. It was painted a deep, rich blue, a rare colour here on Tattooine, and had three small engines. Pug shook his head at the designer's folly as he turned back to face the front. To an inexperienced racer the power of a large engine and the control of a small engine might seem like a fairly equal trade-off, a choice between high top speed or swift turns and acceleration. But engines could be used to batter other racers out of the way and in a cut-throat race like this small engines was almost a death sentence.</p><p>Maintenance droids, coaches and supporters began clearing off the racetrack as the flag bearers completed their march. No one had come to wish Pug well. He knew Sebulba would be sitting in the stands, glaring at him through a pair of macrobinoculars, but his coach wasn't interested in public displays of affection such as sharing a few words of encouragement just before a deadly race. Sebulba just wanted the credits Pug could earn him. Pug shook his head, pushing the thought away. There was no room for emotion on the racetrack. He had to focus. He tightened his grip on the throttle and joystick, fixing his gaze on the track in front of him. The warning gong rang, and Pug lowered his racing goggles over his eyes and switched off his racer's inertial dampeners. Then the starting tone sounded, and he turned the throttle up to maximum at once, his racer launching itself forward along with all the others.</p><p>Pug's stomach lurched as the racer's incredible acceleration pressed him back into his seat. His racer's great engines roared with a deep <em>wub wub wub</em> that shook Pug's bones. The first turn, a gentle curve of the arena wall, hurtled towards him and he jammed his joystick to the side, his pod swinging wildly as his engines changed direction. The racers streamed out of the arena onto the racetrack proper, the Boonta Eve loop, a track that wound through canyons and pillars of rugged sandstone.</p><p>The first section was a wide, flat expanse of desert, and was the safest part of the track for overtaking. The racers fanned out, giving each other space. No one wanted to risk a crash this early in the race. Pug's enormous engines put him at an advantage here, their incredible power whisking his pod along at a speed most of the other racers couldn't match. He weaved smoothly between the slower racers ahead of him until he was in the lead group, just his and three other repulsorcraft that had been designed for maximum power. A couple of minutes into the race and he had already overcome the disadvantage of his starting position. His lips curled up into a grin on either side of his snout. This was going to be easier than he'd thought.</p><p>Relaxed, confident, focusing on his own speed rather than the movement of his opponents, it was only Pug's lightning reactions that saved him. The racer on his left, a bulky KT9 Wasp painted an ominous blood red, malfunctioned. Its left engine shut off but the right continued at top speed. The craft veered abruptly towards Pug's racer. He was hemmed in by another racer on his right.</p><p>Pug had no time to think. He hauled back on the joystick and switched on his inertial dampeners. It they'd been any good the g-forces of the sudden stop would have crushed him against the interior of his pod. Fortunately, they weren't strong enough to overcome his momentum instantly. He was thrown against the racer's controls as his craft decelerated, the joystick driving into his stomach with a force that made him gag. His racer skidded to a halt, his opponents hurtling past him at breakneck speed. Coughing, clutching his stomach, he glanced up. The KT9 Wasp had collided with the racer that had been on Pug's right and both had exploded. They lay just a few meters away from him in a tangled wreck of twisted metal. A body, thrown from its pod by the force of the explosion, was smouldering on the sand. It smelt...</p><p>Pug leaned over the side of his pod and vomited onto the sand. Oh, god, it smelt <em>appetising! </em>Like cooking meat. Pug wiped his mouth with a shaking hand and it came away smeared with blood. Internal bleeding. He could deal with that later, see a medical droid after the race. He could deal with the trauma of smelling a <em>cooking </em>dead body later. All that mattered right now was winning this race. Swallowing down a mouthful of blood, Pug switched the inertial dampeners off and twisted the thruster, his engines blasting back to life. He skidded his racer around the remains of the crash and zoomed back onto the track. He'd lost valuable time. He was right at the back now. He was going to have to take extra risks to catch up.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you very much for reading chapter four! I'm sorry if that pod racer crash was a bit grim, but I felt that it wouldn't really be pod racing without a few violent deaths. Let me know how you feel about the story focusing on the pod race - I'm thinking of having another two or three chapters from Pug's point of view, but if you're more interested in reading about stuff happening in the TARDIS or at the moisture farm I can cut down on podrace description and get back to the main characters. Also let me know how you feel about the violence of podracing. I can gloss over any future crashes or I can describe them in all their horrific glory, if that's your poison. Whatever my readers prefer.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The Force is With Him</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Pug was badly injured when he had to decelerate sharply to avoid a crash. After being slammed into his racer's joystick with incredible force, he is bleeding internally, and rapidly weakening. He knows that Sebulba, his owner, won't pay for medical care for a mere slave, so his only hope for survival is the prize money that will be his if he wins this race. But how far will he go to get it? As Pug instinctively connects with the force to get through this ordeal, the dark side tempts him...</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Pug couldn't breathe. He didn't know how much damage his near-crash had done him but it certainly didn't feel good. At the very least the joystick had badly bruised his abdomen. He was gasping, dragging in lungful after lungful of thin, hot air. The pod racers in front of his were kicking up plumes of sand and Pug was breathing it in, choking and coughing. Every time he coughed a sharp stabbing pain in his stomach forced him to curl forwards. Shaking, spitting blood, he tried to ignore his pain and focus on the race. It was no longer just a matter of winning enough credits to buy his freedom. Pug doubted that Sebulba would pay for him to see a medical droid. If he wanted to recover from the injuries this race had dealt him, he <em>had </em>to win it. He had to have that prize money.</p><p>Pug urged his racer to top speed for the remainder of the flat straight, catching up to the smaller racers with weak engines. He didn't have time to overtake them, however, before the first obstacle of the track came looming into view. A narrow canyon. Overtaking would be impossible in here. Pug was pulling alongside the racer just in front of his but, with a frustrated groan, he eased back on the throttle and moved behind the other racer. He was in a group of five, the laggers of the race. They entered the canyon in single file. In a desert with two suns shade was rare, but the walls of the canyon were so high and narrow they blocked both suns, and darkness fell over the racers. The light of their energy binders reflected purple off the stone walls, polished smooth by eons of sand and wind.</p><p>As far as race obstacles went this one was not particularly dangerous, just frustrating for those who wanted to overtake, and after a few smooth turns Pug was free. The next obstacle was only a few kilometres away, which at these speeds didn't give him much time to overtake. He jammed his throttle back up to full speed and pulled alongside the racer in front of him. It was a lightweight dual-engine racer designed for sharp turns. The pilot was a stunningly beautiful twi'lek female with creamy pale skin, fiery blue eyes that gazed into Pug's own, and long, sinuous lekku. Pug gaped at her, and for a moment the pain of his injuries was forgotten. Who would waste a slave with those looks as a podracer pilot? She could earn her owner a fortune in a pleasure palace. His racer was still travelling at full speed, and was gradually pulling ahead of hers.</p><p>She gave him a seductive smile and called out, "pull back a bit, let's fly together awhile," her voice somehow managing to sound melodic despite her having to shout to be heard over the engines. "We could meet up again after the race."</p><p>Pug would have laughed if he'd had the breath. He doubted that she would actually meet up with him if he let her win, and even if she would, he wouldn't be able to have any fun with her if he didn't have the money to pay for a medical droid first. He turned away from her.</p><p>As he flicked his gaze back to the track he jumped and yanked the joystick to the right. The second obstacle was right upon him - a maze of curving pillars, creating archways through which he had to pilot his racer. He just missed the first of the pillars, his pod swinging left as the engines turned right. His pod sparked against the stone as he passed it. There was a multitude of possible pathways through the arches, but none of them were straight; the archways didn't line up with one another. Pug had to twist and turn his racer through the maze, dodging pillars left and right. He tensed his abdominal muscles to keep himself balanced as his pod tilted, and groaned through clenched teeth as the pain in his stomach flared bright.</p><p>This was a situation where Pug's heavy engines performed their worst. Because of their weight they had too much momentum, and he had to decelerate to give his racer time to manage its ponderous turns. He caught a glimpse of the beautiful twi'lek, zooming ahead of him through a different section of the maze. He was right at the back again. He was going to lose the race. He coughed again, tasting iron. Crimson droplets spattered against his racer's controls. Oh, god, he was going to <em>die! </em></p><p>Briefly, he considered pulling out of the race, going back to Sebulba and begging for medical aid. But no. His master would probably kill him outright for daring to pull out of a race. Winning was the only way he'd be able to afford medical care. He <em>had. To. Win. </em>But how, <em>how?! </em>He was losing! These races were hard enough for an uninjured pilot jostling for position up at the front. How could he, injured, slow, right at the back, hope to make it?</p><p>An inexplicable thrill traveled up his spine and a sense of peace flowed through him. He felt suddenly connected. Connected with his surroundings, with the other pilots, with the universe itself. He felt a wave of compassion, and a gentle voice resonated inside his head.<br/>
<em>Your chances of survival are about one in a thousand. Forget the thousand. Concentrate on the one.</em></p><p>Pug returned to himself. His pain felt lessened, he was breathing more easily. He was gliding his racer gracefully through the maze of pillars, no longer too stressed to plan ahead for the twists and turns. He was accelerating. It didn't matter anymore how he was going to win. He just had to try.</p><p>After the maze of archways the track swooped down into a long, narrow cave. It was almost pitch black inside, and Pug was rapidly catching up to a couple of other racers - middleweight ones, with decent but not bulky engines. They weren't going very fast. Pug assumed that the pilots had slowed down out of fear of hitting something in the dark. He, however, felt like he could... Not see, exactly, but he <em>knew </em>what was coming. He flashed past the two middleweight racers, grinning to himself at the small victory. It was a start.</p><p>The light of the desert suns was blinding after the darkness of the cave, but even as Pug blinked and squinted, he still <em>knew </em>what was around him. Another wide, flat expanse, and there in front of him was the gorgeous twi'lek. It didn't take long for his racer to pull alongside hers once again. She didn't try to seduce him this time, just flashed him a glare. Her engines were screaming, pushed to their limits, but they just didn't have the thrust necessary to keep her racer ahead of his.</p><p>The two racers were side by side, hurtling along the desert track. Pug was on the twi'lek's right, and a sheer sandstone wall loomed up on her left. She glanced at him again, eyes wide with fear. If he slammed his engines into hers now her racer would be send plowing into the stone and he would have one less opponent. At the thought a darkness seemed to swell up within him, bringing with it the full force of his pain and fear crashing back down upon him. He gasped, beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead.</p><p>
  <em>Kill her.</em>
</p><p>It was his own voice but deeper, darker, echoing inside his head.</p><p>
  <em>Kill her.</em>
</p><p>If he did the pain and fear would fade, he knew it!</p><p>
  <em>Kill her.</em>
</p><p>It wasn't even against the rules of the race. Sebulba had done many worse things over the years. This was a life or death situation, he had the right to eliminate someone who was an obstacle to him being able to afford life saving medicine.</p><p>He looked at the twi'lek again, meeting her eyes, and something in his gaze made her flinch. She decelerated her racer, falling behind, giving up on the race. As the opportunity to kill faded away so did the darkness inside Pug. He sighed with relief as the fear and pain faded and the peace returned. What was wrong with him? What had <em>that </em>been? Were the myths about the legendary force<em>, </em>the light side and the dark side, true?</p><p>Pug's hands were shaking, and not from pain. He hadn't chosen not to kill, she had taken the temptation away. What if she hadn't given up? What would he have done to her?</p><p>Pug shook his head and wiped the tears from his eyes. Now was not the time for introspection. If he won this race he could share his winnings with the poor girl, as way of apology. But if he wanted to survive long enough to do anything to redeem himself he had to focus.</p><p>He was on a long flat stretch of track now. He could see it curving all the way back to the distant arena. Ahead was the next group of racers, a collection of middleweight and lightweight ones. He was rapidly gaining on them. He could do this. He could win fair. He had the skill to handle obstacles despite his heavy engines, and his racer had the power to overtake others on the flats. He could win without resorting to eliminating the competition. He <em>would </em>win, without killing anybody, and redeem himself for his moment of darkness.</p><p>And then he would buy his own freedom and that of that magnificently attractive tri'lek and ask her out for a drink.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. The Finish Line</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This chapter tells of the last two laps of the podrace. Can Pug achieve victory? Do we WANT him to achieve victory? He needs the prize money to purchase life saving medical care and his own freedom, but the Doctor needs credits to repair C3PO. Which is more important?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope you've enjoyed the podrace so far everyone. Thank you for reading even though an action-packed and rather violent podrace from the point of view of an original character is probably not what you had in mind when you clicked on a Doctor Who Star Wars crossover fanfiction. Indulge me for one more chapter and I promise that the next chapter will be back to the main characters! I've had a lot of fun writing about this podrace :P</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Pug was still injured, still in pain, and starting to grow dizzy. But that glorious peaceful energy was still flowing through him. The force? He didn't know, and he didn't really care, he just hoped that it would stay with him. It strengthened him, allowed him to ignore the taste of iron in his mouth, to keep his hands and feet steady on the controls despite the shaking of his muscles. In fact, he was feeling <em>good!</em></p><p>He had overtaken a large group of racers on the way back to the arena. He glanced at the minimap glowing on his racer's viewscreen. He was about halfway between the group he had passed a few kilometres back, and the next, the leading group. There were only five racers ahead of his now, and he was catching up fast.</p><p>The crowd howledas he roared through the arena, kicking up a great plume of sand. He skidded around the arena's curve and zoomed back out into the next long flat section, starting his second lap. He squinted against the glare of the midday suns. There they were, just reaching the narrow canyon ahead of him. Three middleweight racers that must have gained a good lead through the obstacles of the first lap, just now being overtaken by the only remaining heavyweight racer apart from Pug's own. At the very front, just entering the shadow of the canyon, was a glint of blue. That three-engined, extremely lightweight craft Pug had noticed before the start of the race. He was surprised it had made it this far without being crushed; a craft so small wasn't very robust. The pilot must be extremely skilled.</p><p>Pug pushed his throttle to the max and careened along the desert track. It was eerie, being the only podracer in view once the group ahead of him had disappeared into the canyon. He couldn't hear anything beyond the deep hypnotic <em>wub wub wub </em>of his engines. It didn't feel like a race anymore. It felt like a surreal training exercise.</p><p>Abruptly he slumped to one side, overcome by a wave of dizziness. He felt cold. He was losing too much blood internally. His racer began to drift. On either side of the track the desert was littered with fragments of sandstone. If he hit one of those boulders he was finished. With a groan, Pug pushed himself back upright and righted the joystick, guiding his racer back to the middle of the track. He was swaying. His vision flickered black at the edges.</p><p><em>No, </em>he couldn't faint now! He just had to hold on for a little longer - two more laps! Once he'd paid Sebulba his freedom ransom and hired a medical droid he could have the longest, deepest, <em>freest </em>sleep of his entire life.</p><p>Pug shook his head and tried to breathe deeply. He reached out for that peaceful energy surrounding him and drew on it, finding hidden reserves of strength. He felt warmth return to his limbs. His vision cleared and he felt alert again. But he sensed that it wouldn't last long. He had to hurry.</p><p>It was dangerous to fly at top speed through the canyon. One wrong move would see him smashing into the sandstone walls and going out in a blazing inferno. But he really didn't have much choice. He could collapse at any moment. He had to finish the race as quickly as possible. </p><p>He glared at the track ahead of him, relying on memory to tell him what turns were coming. It was strange, but his memory had never been this sharp before. He always knew exactly which way to turn even before the next corner was visible. He weaved his racer through the canyon at lightning speed.</p><p>A sickly, cold dread settled into the bottom of his stomach. Danger ahead. He eased back on the throttle. As he came around a corner into a wider section of the canyon, he almost collided right into the smouldering remains of the twi'lek's racer. She must have been heading back towards the arena, given up on the race. He only just had time to dodge around it, relieved that he'd had the foresight to slow down.</p><p>Behind the racer stood the twi'lek, hemmed in by three tuskan raiders. They had blasters. Pug had only moments to think. If he left her she would be taken captive by the raiders, and that was not a pleasant fate. But, injured as he was, he'd be no help to her if he got out of his pod. And giving up on the race was for him a death sentence.</p><p>He tilted the joystick. His racer turned into a spin, the engines rotating on the spot and the pod swinging in an arc carried by momentum and the long flexible cables connecting it to the engines. There was only <em>just </em>enough space in this wide section of the canyon for a full turn. The raiders were standing in a tight group before the twi'lek, turning to gape at him in astonishment. His pod plowed right into all three of them. As he'd hoped, with its heavyweight design it had enough momentum to knock them over without giving him too much of a jolt. The pod continued in its arc, leaving three crushed and broken tuskan bodies. It was a daring, brilliant move. Pug met the eyes of the shocked twi'lek and winked at her before righting the joystick. The engines bucked forward once more, and Pug was whisked away, leaving the twi'lek with a ruined racer and three dead tuskans.</p><p>Despite his racer's lack of agility Pug made good time through the maze of archways and the cave that followed it. By the time his racer burst out of the cave's shadow back into the desert sun he was right on the tail of the only other heavyweight racer, which had fallen behind from the lead group while navigating the obstacles. The three middleweight racers were neck and neck, kilometres away.  The blue lightweight was even further ahead, but was at a disadvantage now that they were on a long flat stretch.</p><p>Pug's racer was just slightly faster than the other heavyweight. Sebulba might be cheap when it came to the treatment of his slaves, but not when it came to purchasing and equipping podracers. He had a passion for them. Pug's racer began to inch closer and closer to the racer in front, closing the gap. He swung out to one side, intending to overtake.</p><p>The pilot of the racer in front, face hidden behind a helmet, turned to look at Pug. Pug shivered. He felt that sense of dread again, like a warning. Then the other pilot decelerated his racer, letting Pug's overtake, and swooped in behind him. There was no reason for him to do that unless his racer had hidden, illegal weapons. The other pilots were too far away to see what was going on.</p><p>Pug's suspicions were confirmed as the racer behind his opened fire. He ducked as bullets spattered across his pod, sparking off the metal. He was <em>really </em>glad Sebulba didn't skimp on his racers. The bulletproof armour was theoretically an unnecessary added weight but everyone knew that many racers had illegal weapons, even if people didn't really talk about it.</p><p>Pug weaved from side to side, trying to avoid the spray of bullets. If he could just avoid getting hit he would be okay. His pod was able to withstand the assault, and he would soon be out of range. Heavyweight racers didn't accelerate quickly, and after decelerating to let Pug in front the other racer was falling behind.</p><p>A bullet was sucked into the left engine of Pug's racer, making it burst into flames, and at the same time an explosion of pain in Pug's left shoulder made him scream and jerk. He wanted to clutch at the wound, but he had to keep his hands and feet on the controls of his racer. He could feel hot blood trickling down his back.</p><p><em>Damn it damn it damn it! </em>He didn't have any blood to spare, not when he was hemorrhaging on the inside as well!</p><p>He was beyond the range of the weapon now, but the damage had been done. This was the last thing he needed. An early near-crash, tuskan raiders, and illegal weaponry. What else could go wrong in this race? At this rate he wouldn't live to see the finish line, let alone win.</p><p>His vision flickered, shadows crowding in on him. He felt like he was looking through a tunnel. The track seemed to be stretching, elongating. The only reason he was still grasping the controls was the thought that he'd rather die peacefully from blood loss than be torn apart by bullets. His fingers skipped nimbly over buttons, channeling fuel away from the burning engine into the other long enough for the fire to go out, and then restoring the fuel balance. If he could get far enough away from the maniac behind him then maybe he could pull over somewhere and go to sleep.</p><p>He watched, almost bemused, as the middleweight racers came towards him. That was strange, they were going in the wrong direction. Why was that? Gosh, he felt so strange. Was he floating? Was this a dream? Oh, of course, the racers weren't coming towards him, he was just gaining on them. With a giggle and a wave in their direction Pug smoothly overtook the three middleweights. Now there was only that glittering blue lightweight in front of him. But its engines were <em>really </em>not designed for speed and it was only just in front of the middleweights. He sailed past it, laughing.</p><p>How funny. When he'd been desperate to win he'd been losing. Now that he was ready to give up he was winning.</p><p>Winning...</p><p>Winning?</p><p>
  <em>Winning!!</em>
</p><p>Holy shit, he was winning! He was winning the race! He couldn't give up now, not when he was so close to victory, to fame, to riches, to freedom, and <em>for the love of God </em>to medical care!!</p><p>Pug shook his head, forcing himself back to alertness. He glanced at his right foot, resting on the throttle. His skin looked a few shades lighter than it had been. Oh, man, he really was losing a lot of blood.</p><p>But the race was almost over. He blasted through the arena and out the other side, steadily putting a larger and larger gap between himself and the racers behind him. He was on the final lap. His was the fastest racer in the race. If he could just stay ahead through all the obstacles, victory was his.</p><p>He was miles ahead of anyone else by the time he reached the canyon. He caught a glimpse of the twi'lek woman puttering back towards the arena in a pod dragged along by one barely-functioning engine; the last working remains of her racer. She waved at him as he passed her by.</p><p>He managed to not slow down much through the twists and turns of the canyon, the confusion of the maze, and the darkness of the cave. But even so, that deep blue racer caught up with him, handling the sharp turns with ease. It pulled alongside his just as they blasted out of the cave.</p><p>Pug felt like the final lap had passed in a blur. His stomach tightened. It was just the final stretch to go. One last mad dash through the desert and his fate would be determined.</p><p>But despite his anxiety, his heart lifted a little with hope. The other racers were far behind now. It was down to his racer - heavy, powerful engines, high top speed - and the blue racer - lightweight and agile. And they were on heavyweight-favouring terrain. The race was his.</p><p>Their two racers were neck and neck now, but that wouldn't last long. Pug began accelerating to full speed. His racer began inching in front of the other.</p><p>But then, the other racer did something strange. Its three engines opened up and pulled together, connecting, the machinery flowing in a way Pug had never seen. They sharpened into a tip at the front, the three small rotors sliding out of the way at the back to give way to one massive rotor. Instead of three weak engines the craft now had one huge one. And it was powerful. It blasted to life, emitting the same deep <em>wub wub wubs </em>as Pug's own. And with its aerodynamic tip the small racer cut through the air like a sleek arrow.</p><p>Their top speeds were almost the same. Pug couldn't understand why the pilot hadn't used this technology on previous laps, unless... Of course, they had hidden it until they were beyond the reach of those who would eliminate a superior craft. And now, safe at last, they were showing what they were truly capable of.</p><p>Just a few kilometres left to go of the entire race, and Pug's life depended on the outcome. His racer had two large engines, the other only had one, and despite its streamlined form it was ever so slowly beginning to fall behind.</p><p>They were seconds from the finish line when Pug's left engine, damaged from the bullet that had hit it on lap two, exploded. It hit the sand and bounced upwards, dragging the other engine with it. The momentum of Pug's pod was still carrying him forward, towards the dangerously heavy, flailing engines. He was going to be crushed! He did the only thing he could; he disconnected the cables holding his pod to its engines, so at the very least he wouldn't be yanked backwards if he got beyond them. The pod sailed through the air, and the engines slammed down just behind it, missing Pug by millimetres, making the hairs stand up on the back of his neck.</p><p>Did he have enough momentum to make it across the finish line? Technically if he got the pod across that was a finish. His pod hit the sand and skidded forwards. He was <em>so close!</em></p><p>But that sleek, deep blue racer flashed across the finish line a microsecond ahead of him.</p><p>Pug couldn't believe it. After all that, he had lost.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. The Spectators</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Rose and the Doctor hang out together at the Boonta Eve Arena, watching Pugwan's podrace. They're having fun together until the Doctor accidentally forms a telepathic connection with Pug. Rose can do nothing but watch helplessly as the Doctor suffers all the agony experienced by the injured podracer pilot.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for your patience in waiting for this chapter. It took me five days to write it! I had a bit of writer's block with this one. I'm feeling good about the next chapter though, I'll try and get it out either tomorrow or the day after :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Having a time (and space) machine is handy when you're going to spectate something. You can go to any planet, any time, get <em>literally </em>any snack you like.</p><p>Rose had planned on smuggling her snacks into the arena in the Doctor's bigger-on-the-inside pockets, but she didn't need to. The podrace arena was open to the public and there didn't seem to be any restrictions on what you could bring inside.</p><p>"I wonder what their business model is." Rose said, sitting down next to the Doctor and popping a piece of popcorn in her mouth. "We didn't have to pay for tickets. Maybe they take a cut of all the gambling profits."</p><p>The Doctor, sitting rigid in his seat with his fists clenched, didn't respond.</p><p>"Doctor?" Rose nudged him. "Are you still angry about the slavery?"</p><p><em>"Yes."</em> His voice dripped with venom.</p><p>They had first landed in the evening, asked some people at a local bar about who had won the day's podrace, and then flown back to the morning to place a bet on that person. They hadn't had any credits with which to place a bet, but R2D2 had offered to be handed over as collateral, and it was at that moment that the Doctor had realised that the little droid was a slave. An object, with monetary value, that could be lost in a bet.</p><p>Now that he had noticed it he kept pointing it out to Rose. Slavery, everywhere. It wasn't just the droids. There were alien and human slaves too. Rose had overheard enough conversation from the people around her to realise that most of the podracer pilots were slaves. It was awful.</p><p>Rose took the Doctor's hand. He slowly uncurled his fingers from his fist and entwined them with hers. She didn't speak, just waited for him to process his rage. After a while he turned and gave her a sad smile. "I don't mean to be a misery, Rose. I'm just so sick and tired of seeing the way that people treat each other."</p><p>"I know."</p><p>He glanced down at the snacks in her lap. "I can't believe you chose popcorn. All of space and time, every snack bar ever created to choose from, and you go back home and make popcorn in the microwave while Jackie prattles away over a cup of tea."</p><p>"Ah, Doctor, you still have a lot to learn about humans."</p><p>"What do you mean?"</p><p>"It was just an excuse to visit my mum. It was the prattling I wanted more than the popcorn."</p><p>The Doctor blinked. "Oh. Do you miss her? Your mother? We could visit her more often, if you like."</p><p>Rose smiled as a feeling of warmth flowed through her. Her relationship with the Doctor had developed into a deep friendship over the years. This man had once forced her to choose between travelling with him and catching up with her mum after being missing for a year. Now he was willing to go out of his way to visit Jackie.</p><p>"I don't miss her exactly, it's just nice to see her when I do." Rose said.</p><p>"How about we visit her for dinner after we get R2D2 and C3PO sorted?" The Doctor's face suddenly lit up. "I know, we could <em>take her out </em>for dinner - to an alien planet!"</p><p>Rose choked on her popcorn and coughed as the Doctor pounded on her back. "Take <em>Mum </em>to an alien planet?!" She laughed. "That'll be a disaster - but a hilarious one! Let's do it! Can we take Mickey too?"</p><p>The Doctor's face fell at the mention of Mickey. "Yeah. I guess."</p><p>Rose leaned against him. "Doctor, are you <em>jealous?"</em></p><p>"No."</p><p>"You are!"</p><p>The Doctor rolled his eyes and turned his head to look in the other direction. Rose waited for him to respond, then huffed in irritation when she realised he wasn't going to. She turned away and gazed out over the racetrack before them. Large, strange beasts of burden were dragging the racers into position. Rose could smell the pungent creatures from where she was sitting; the Doctor had chosen seats at the front, just a small railing between them and the racetrack.</p><p>It was incredibly hot and dry on this planet. The air shimmered with heat waves. Rose had changed into desert-appropriate gear: a long-sleeved maxi dress made out of white cotton, a pale blue baseball cap, big round sunglasses, and a generous layer of sunblock which made her skin feel unpleasantly greasy. The Doctor was dressed as usual but had used the sonic screwdriver to turn his glasses into sunnies.</p><p>Rose chewed on her lower lip. She shouldn't have led Mickey on for so long. She had never meant for things to turn out how they had. She'd always thought she'd one day go back to Mickey, but ever since the Doctor had regenerated her feelings for him had grown stronger and stronger, and now she knew that she would never leave him. Maybe she should end things with Mickey properly, allow him to move on.</p><p>A glint of blue caught her eye. One of racers, the smallest out of all of them, was a suspiciously familiar colour. A rich blue like the deep ocean on a summer's day. Rose peered sidelong at the Doctor.</p><p>"Do you know anything about that racer, Doctor?" She pointed.</p><p>The Doctor snorted. "Nothing to do with me. Why would I participate in these awful races when we can just bet on the person we know will win and get credits that way?"</p><p>"It's a very familiar colour..."</p><p>"I swear, it's just a coincidence."</p><p>"It's a very <em>nice </em>colour..."</p><p>The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright, I'll change the TARDIS back into a police box. Happy?"</p><p>Rose smiled, satisfied with herself, and popped some more popcorn into her mouth.</p><p>"Look!" The Doctor leaned close, shoulder brushing against hers, and pointed at a strange creature crossing the racetrack. He walked on his hands, his legs reaching out in front of him like arms. "That's him. Pugwan. He's the one who'll win today."</p><p>Rose peered at him. He certainly was strange looking, with sand-coloured skin, a snout like a camel's with drooping tendrils sprouting from either side, and a scrawny body. He didn't seem very graceful while walking, but as soon as he hopped into his pod Rose could tell he was right at home.</p><p>"Is he a slave?" Rose asked the Doctor.</p><p>"I assume so."</p><p>"Isn't it wrong of us to profit off of him?"</p><p>"I'll make it up to him. I'm not leaving this galaxy again until slavery has been abolished."</p><p>Rose groaned. "You're going to try and bring down the Empire, aren't you?"</p><p>"Shh! You never know who might be listening. You've got to be careful in an authoritarian place like this."</p><p>"Careful. Yeah, sure. Your middle name."</p><p>They didn't have to wait much longer for the start of the race. Once the pilots were all in their pods a group of people carrying flags marched across the start line. Then a great gong ran out, and a few seconds later, the race began. The sound of the racers taking off was a cacophony. The engines were very loud, some emitting deep thrumming sounds like dubstep music, others a piercing screech. The racers zoomed off, kicking up huge amounts of sand and dust that made Rose cough. As they disappeared into the distance the Doctor pulled an iPad out of his pocket. He zapped it with his screwdriver, and a display popped up, following Pugwan's racer. He had started off near the back, but was swiftly moving to the front, overtaking his opponents.</p><p>"We're certain he'll win?" Rose asked.</p><p>"Yep. We've been to the future and confirmed it. There would have to be a paradox in time for him to lose, and we really don't want one of those to happen."</p><p>"Why? What would happen if it did?"</p><p>"Remember those creatures that came after you saved your father?"</p><p>Rose shivered. "Yeah..."</p><p>"Well, you'd get to meet them a second time."</p><p>Rose didn't respond. A lump rose in her throat. She didn't like thinking about that day. The day her father had died.</p><p>"Don't worry." The Doctor continued, oblivious to Rose's disquiet. "We're the only time travelers here and we're not going to interfere with the race. Look, Pugwan is almost winning already!"</p><p>Rose glanced at the iPad, just in time to see Pugwan slam on the brakes and fly into the controls of his racer. The Doctor gasped and dropped the iPad, clutching his stomach.</p><p>"Doctor?! Are you alright?" Rose grabbed his arm.</p><p>The Doctor grimaced in pain. "There's something in this galaxy, some kind of energy... It's amplifying my telepathy... I've connected with Pug..." He groaned. "He's badly hurt."</p><p>"Can you make it stop? The telepathy?"</p><p>"It's beyond my control." The Doctor's face was pale and shining with sweat. "Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick."</p><p>Rose picked up the iPad and looked at Pugwan. He was throwing up over the side of his pod. When he was done a little bit of colour returned to the Doctor's cheeks.</p><p>"Are you okay?" Rose tightened her grip on the Doctor's arm.</p><p>He took a couple of deep breaths, and then responded, "I'm always alright."</p><p>For the rest of the race the Doctor faded in and out of telepathic connection with Pugwan. Sometimes he was fine, watching the iPad over Rose's shoulder, as unaware as she of what Pugwan would do next. Other times he would shudder and beads of sweat would break out on his forehead as he felt what Pugwan was feeling. Rose was concerned about the Doctor, but she felt even more sorry for the poor pilot - the Doctor was in agony every time he connected with Pugwan, which must have meant that the pilot was suffering the entire time.</p><p>Sometimes the Doctor would share Pugwan's thoughts with Rose, telling her what was running through the pilot's head. He was a slave. He wanted to buy his own freedom. His master was unlikely to pay for a medical droid. His only hope for recovery from his injuries was to win the prize money.</p><p>"Thank goodness he's going to win, then." Rose murmured.</p><p>At one point the Doctor blushed and crossed his legs, and when Rose asked what was wrong he said in a strained voice, "He's... <em>very </em>attracted to one of the other pilots."</p><p>At another point the Doctor whispered something under his breath, eyes closed. Rose only just caught the end of what he was saying. <em>"Forget about the thousand. Concentrate on the one."</em></p><p>But despite all the drama, at the end of the final lap Pugwan was winning. Things would turn out as expected. The Doctor would win a thousand credits. Pugwan would have his happy ending. Rose gripped the Doctor's hand in excitement. Through her observation of his ordeal via the Doctor's reactions, she had become quite attached to Pugwan.</p><p>Then, to her horror, one of Pugwan's engines exploded. The Doctor flinched. They weren't watching on the iPad anymore; the racers were now within sight, almost at the finish line, Pugwan's and that shiny blue one. Pugwan disconnected his pod from his engines and the little pod went flying across the sand, carried by momentum. It looked like they crossed the finish line at the same time.</p><p>"What happened?! Who won?!" Rose cried.</p><p>The Doctor snatched the iPad from her and fiddled with it. He got the end of the race to replay in slow motion. The blue racer had crossed the finish line <em>just </em>ahead of Pugwan's pod.</p><p>Rose slumped back in her seat. Pugwan had lost. Without medical care, he would die. The Doctor had lost his bet and wouldn't have the credits to pay for C3PO's repair. R2D2 would be sold into slavery. But worse of all, this was a paradox. Time was damaged. Those terrifying, dragon-like creatures would come. They'd kill everyone!</p><p>"How can this have happened?" Rose gasped. "We didn't interfere!"</p><p>The Doctor's face was ashen. "I... may have spoken with him telepathically. Very briefly."</p><p>
  <em>"What?!"</em>
</p><p>"He was in pain and terrified. I just wanted to help. I didn't think it would affect the outcome of the race..."</p><p>"Doctor," Rose whimpered, "you've created a paradox! What are we going to do?"</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>If any of you aren't sure what I mean by the dragon-like monsters, look up the Doctor Who episode 'Father's Day'.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Aftermath</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Rose and the Doctor know that Pugwan was supposed to win the podrace, and yet, he lost. Time is damaged and the reapers are coming to sterilise the wound by consuming everyone inside. How can Rose and the Doctor save themselves and everyone else from the reapers, save Pugwan from blood loss, and save R2D2 from being sold into slavery after being lost in a bet?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Doctor!" Rose cried as the Doctor vaulted over the railing separating the stands from the racetrack. He ran across the sand towards Pugwan's pod. Rose followed, clambering awkwardly over the fence with her long dress tangling about her legs and her remaining popcorn spilling onto the floor. The race commentator, a two-headed creature with each head acting as a separate speaker, was shouting with excitement (from both heads!) about the dramatic finish to the Boonta Eve race. The TARDIS-blue racer was gliding gracefully across the track towards the hanger where the racers were stored before and after the race. Pugwan was spilling out of his pod, sprawling onto the ground, curling up in agony.</p><p>"Is he gonna be okay?" Rose panted as she caught up to the Doctor, who was kneeling beside Pugwan, feeling his pulse. He looked up at Rose and shook his head, his face grim.</p><p>"What do we do?" Rose asked, crouching down on Pugwan's opposite side from the Doctor.</p><p>"We find his master," the Doctor said, "and convince him to take this slave to a healer."</p><p>"What about the time-dragons?" Rose asked.</p><p>"Reapers."</p><p>"Yeah, aren't they gonna come? Isn't Pugwan losing the race a paradox, since we saw in the future that he's supposed to win?"</p><p>"One problem at a time, Rose. This boy is dying." The Doctor scanned Pugwan with his screwdriver. The scrawny alien pilot was unconscious now, lying limp with his jaws parted and his eyes closed. A small trickle of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.</p><p>"Blasted thing!" The Doctor smacked his sonic screwdriver and took another look at the readings. "There's something mechanical interfering with it."</p><p>"The racers?"</p><p>"No, something more advanced. A droid, I think. I wonder if I could convince it to shut down for a minute so I can get a proper reading of Pugwan's injuries... Stay with him, I'll be right back."</p><p>"Wait, what?" Rose called as the Doctor rose and hurried away. "Doctor I don't know anything about medicine! What am I supposed to do?"</p><p>But the Doctor ignored her and ran towards the hangar bay, following his screwdriver's readings.</p><p>Rose looked around for help, but everyone was too busy arguing over their losses and earnings from the race's bets to pay any attention to an injured slave-boy. She gritted her teeth and turned back to the insensible slave.</p><p>Not knowing what else to do, she pulled her cap off her head and bundled it up into a makeshift pillow, gently placing it beneath Pugwan's skull. "You'll be alright," she promised the boy, unsure whether he could hear her or not. "My friend is a great doctor. He'll help you." She placed her hand on his arm. His skin felt clammy and cold. It was incredibly pale. She remembered his skin being the same colour as the desert sand at the start of the race, but now he would blend in better with snow. The rough material of his tunic was soaked with red around the bullet wound in his shoulder.</p><p>Rose settled down cross legged beside Pugwan and spoke to him quietly for a while, even though he showed no response. She held his hand and reassured him that help was on the way. She didn't know what else she could do. Where was the Doctor? What was taking him so long?</p><p>
  <em>"HEY!"</em>
</p><p>Rose jumped at the harsh voice and looked up to see a man of the same species as Pugwan marching towards her on his hands. He was bigger than Pugwan, brawnier, with darker brown skin.</p><p>"That's <em>my </em>slave!" he snapped, "get away from him!"</p><p>Rose didn't budge. "He needs help. He needs to see a healer, quickly."</p><p>The slave owner snorted. "If he lives he lives. If he dies he dies." He stormed over to stand beside Rose, looking down at his slave. "Pug. <em>Pug. </em>Wake up!" He kicked - or perhaps punched, it was confusing when he used his arms as legs - the poor boy in the ribs. "I said WAKE UP!"</p><p>"Leave him alone!" Rose pushed the cruel man away. He staggered backwards, then glared down at her and literally snarled.</p><p>"He is my property, girl, and you'd best back off before I have you beaten for your impudence." He raised a fist. Rose shrank away from him, sitting back down on the ground. She discreetly moved one hand behind her and grabbed a handful of sand, planning to throw it in the bastard's eyes if it came to a fight.</p><p>"Don't you dare," came a cold voice, and Rose turned to see the Doctor walking slowly towards her across the sand, glaring at the slave master. His face was expressionless but his eyes were blazing. He hurled something at the slaver, who caught it reflexively. A money bag.</p><p>"Half of his winnings." The Doctor nodded at Pugwan. "His freedom ransom. Now go. You have no right to torment him, or my companion, any further."</p><p>The slaver cackled and scuttled away with his money.</p><p>"Winnings?" Rose asked. "I don't understand; he lost."</p><p>The intercom crackled back to life and the voice of one of the commentators boomed out. <em>Ladies and gentlemen, in a shocking turn of events, Jabba's pilot has been revealed as a droid and disqualified! Victory of the Boonta Eve Classic defaults to Sebulba's pilot!</em></p><p>The gambling crowd went mad, some people raging over their last minute losses, others cheering their last minute win.</p><p>"That's what was interfering with the sonic," the Doctor said as he crouched down beside Rose and Pugwan. "The pilot of that blue racer was a droid, which is against the rules. With him disqualified, Pugwan wins."</p><p>Rose sighed with relief. "So he'll be okay? We can pay for a healer for him now? And no reapers?"</p><p>"No reapers. And he can pay for his own healer, he won more credits than we did! Although we should probably help him find one." The Doctor scooped Pugwan up in his arms and began marching toward the exit, with Rose hurrying after him.</p><p>~~~</p><p>Three hours later saw Rose, the Doctor, and R2D2 in a frighteningly sterile hospital room in central Mos Espa. The walls, ceilings and floor were pristine white. The air smelled of disinfectant. Silver monitors emitted periodic beeps.</p><p>A pale-skinned willowy woman with two fleshy tendrils instead of hair was sitting before a large tank. Inside the tank floated Pugwan, clad in nothing but a cloth nappy. The liquid around him glowed blue. He was being fed air through an oxygen mask. His stomach was covered in black and purple bruises and there was a visible hole in his shoulder, but the colour had returned to his skin.</p><p>"He will be fully recovered in a few days," said the androgynous humanoid droid who had tended to him, turning from the tank to face the Doctor. "If you will excuse me, I have other patients to attend." It wheeled slowly out of the room. </p><p>The Doctor crossed the room to stand before the pale woman, who had introduced herself as  Alema. "I'm trusting you to look after him. And his things." He passed a money bag to her. "Pug's winnings - <em>Pug's, </em>not yours. If you run off with them I'll find out."</p><p>The girl took the money bag with one hand and tucked it into her robes without taking her eyes from Pugwan's floating form. "You don't need to worry about that, Doctor. I will never leave him. He saved my life during the race."</p><p>The Doctor nodded and turned to Rose. "Come on, then - TARDIS! We have a droid to repair." He ushered Rose and R2D2 out of the room, leaving Alema gazing fondly at the pilot who had saved her.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Blue Milk</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Owen and Beru invite the Doctor and Rose to join them for lunch while Luke fixes C3PO.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"What is this?" Rose asked, peering into the cup Beru had handed her. The liquid inside was pale blue and milky.</p><p>"Bluebean milk." Beru replied, sitting down beside Rose at the dining table. "The beans were freshly juiced this morning. I trade water for milk with our neighbour each day."</p><p>Rose and the Doctor were sitting down to lunch with Owen and Beru. It was midday, and the moisture farmers were sheltering from the heat of the day in a shadowed alcove. Luke had taken C3PO to the garage to repair him under the watchful gaze of R2D2.</p><p>Rose sniffed at the bluebean milk suspiciously. It smelt faintly of vanilla. The Doctor was drinking deeply from his own cup with no sign of ill effect, so she took a sip. The milk was deliciously creamy.</p><p>Beru ladled out vegetable soup into clay bowls. "I insist that the two of you eat as much as you like," she said, "after paying my boys so handsomely. You must really care about that protocol droid of yours."</p><p>"Oh, we don't own him," the Doctor said, accepting a bowl of soup from Beru. "He's just a friend."</p><p>"Who does own him, then?" Owen asked.</p><p>"R2D2 told us he belongs to someone called Obi-Wan Kenobi. Apparently he lives around here somewhere, I don't suppose you know him?"</p><p>Owen and Beru glanced at each other, a deep frown forming on Owen's forehead. "There's no one by that name here anymore. Obi-Wan is long gone. But you'll find Ben Kenobi living by himself out beyond the dune sea. He'll be able to tell you more."</p><p>"Could you show us the way there?" Rose asked, glancing from Owen to Beru with a smile of thanks as the woman passed her a bowl.</p><p>Owen chewed thoughtfully for a while. "I suppose Luke can take you in his landspeeder. But send him straight home once you get there. I don't want him hanging out with Ben. That crazy old wizard is a bad influence."</p><p>The Doctor chuckled. "I like the sound of that."</p><p>Rose tasted a spoonful of soup. It was rustic fare with simple flavours, but warm and satisfying and wholesome. It was just what Rose needed after a long, stressful day at the Boonta Eve race. She gave Beru another grateful smile. "This is great food, Beru! Thank you. I was starving."</p><p>"Doctor!" Beru scolded, "you really ought to take better care of your wife. A lovely young woman like that shouldn't have to go hungry."</p><p>The Doctor choked on his mouthful of milk. "No no," he spluttered, "she's not my wife! We just travel together."</p><p>"Oh." Beru frowned. "That's a shame. You'd made a lovely couple."</p><p>Rose drank from her own cup to hide her expression. It was surprising how much the Doctor's words had stung. <em>We just travel together. </em>Was she nothing more to him than a travelling companion?</p><p>She glanced up as Luke emerged from the sandstone building attached to the alcove. He walked over to the table, wiping his greasy hands on a rag.</p><p>"Join us for lunch, Luke," Beru urged.</p><p>"Soon," Luke promised, "I'm almost done. I just have a question for the Doctor."</p><p>"Oh? What's up, kid?"</p><p>"It's about your droid, sir."</p><p>"Not <em>my </em>droid. I don't own anyone," the Doctor said, but the judgement in his tone went over the boy's head.</p><p>"Your friend's droid, then. His memory has been wiped but the job was incomplete. The memories are still there, they're just blocked. R2D2 wants me to restore the memories but I thought I'd better check with you."</p><p>Rose glanced at the Doctor, meeting his eyes. He looked as shocked as she felt. The people in this galaxy didn't just enslave robots, they fiddled with their memories too? Luke had said <em>memory wiped </em>in a totally casual tone, no surprise or horror at all. But to completely reset the memory of a robot designed to grow and develop was like murdering the person it had become!</p><p>"I see no reason for poor C3PO to have to live with amnesia," the Doctor growled. "Please restore all of his memories."</p><p>~~~</p><p>After lunch Beru handed Rose a tray with a bowl of soup and a cup of milk to take to Luke. Rose walked carefully through the narrow kitchen, focusing on not spilling Luke's lunch. She followed the Doctor to the garage. It was a dimly lit room, humid with steam rising from a tub of greasy-looking liquid that C3PO was immersed in. The droid was still unresponsive, but his golden metal was much shinier than before. Luke was lounging in a chair, playing with a toy spaceship. Rose smiled at the boy's endearing immaturity.</p><p>"Grub's up!" The Doctor announced cheerfully, and Luke jumped and dropped his toy, blushing.</p><p>"Don't be embarassed," the Doctor chuckled, leaning against the wall as Rose set the lunch tray down on a bench. "Toys are great for the imagination. Never grow up."</p><p>"Your droid is repaired and his memory has been restored." Luke said, making a beeline for the lunch tray. Rose was impressed the he was able to move around in the dim light without tripping on the pieces of equipment littering the floor. "I'm just giving him an oil bath for his joints now. He'll be reactivated in a few minutes."</p><p>"Good work, kiddo," the Doctor replied. "Your uncle said you could take us to meet Ben Kenobi after lunch. That wouldn't be too much trouble, would it?"</p><p>Luke shook his head. "Not at all. I'd like to visit old Ben, I haven't seen him in ages. My uncle doesn't really like me spending time with him."</p><p>"He said he was a bad influence."</p><p>"He was involved in the rebellion during the fall of the Republic. My uncle thinks he's too adventurous. He thinks everyone should just keep their heads down and spend their life on honest labour." Luke rolled his eyes and shovelled a bite of soup into his mouth. "He won't let me join the academy," he said with his mouth full, "wants me to stay on the farm forever."</p><p>"He's just worried about you," Rose said, "and wants to keep you safe. All guardians are like that." She thought of her mother, waiting for her at home, worrying. She fought down a surge of guilt.</p><p>"So you were raised by your aunt and uncle?" The Doctor asked.</p><p>"Yeah. My parents both died when I was a baby."</p><p>"I'm sorry to hear that."</p><p>"It's okay, Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru have always been good to me. I wish I'd known what my father was like, though. He died fighting during the fall of the Republic. He must have been pretty cool."</p><p>"Did he fight for the Republic or the Empire?" Rose asked, leaning against the wall next to the Doctor.</p><p>"I don't know," Luke replied. "Uncle Owen doesn't like to talk about it. But my father was a good man, so I'm sure he was fighting for the Republic."</p><p>R2D2 interrupted with an excited beep. "He's waking up!"</p><p>Rose turned to see C3PO's yellow eyes flicker to life as a moving platform raised him up out of the oil bath. Steam rose from his heated, shining metal. He sat up, rubbing his head. "Oh dear, I must have malfunctioned. What happened?"</p><p>"Erm," Rose felt heat rise in her cheeks, "I accidentally overloaded your mental circuits... I'm sorry, 3PO. 3PO? Are... you okay?"</p><p>C3PO was staring around him, turning this way and that. "I... This is the Lars Moisture Farm. How did I get back here? I used to work here as the maidservant of Shmi Skywalker."</p><p>"Skywalker?" Luke looked up from his lunch. "Who Skywalker?"</p><p>"Shmi. She was the mother of my creator... Oh, oh dear, my creator! He fell to the dark side! How could I have forgotten that? It feels like it was yesterday, and yet, it was so long ago!"</p><p>"Your memories were wiped," the Doctor said sympathetically. "I'm sorry. You never got a chance to process the things that happened just before the wipe."</p><p>"It's okay, that's all over now," Rose said, going to C3PO and putting a hand on his shoulder. It was slick with oil.</p><p>"Who was your creator?" Luke asked.</p><p>"Anakin," C3PO sighed, "poor Anakin. Oh, and my poor mistress, Padme! She died in childbirth. Poor, poor Padme, I felt so helpless."</p><p>Luke leapt up and stumbled back, away from C3PO, eyes wide.</p><p>"Luke? What's wrong?" Rose asked.</p><p>"Anakin... Padme... Those are my <em>parent's </em>names!" Luke gasped, his cheeks turning pale.</p><p>"Your <em>father </em>is Darth Vader?!" The Doctor took a step towards Luke, who fell to his knees.</p><p>"Anakin joined the dark side? No... No, it cannot be... My father was a good person..." He started sobbing.</p><p>"Not was. Is," the Doctor said. "If the person C3PO is talking about is the same person R2D2 told me about, your father is still alive."</p><p>R2D2 beeped a confirmation.</p><p>"Luke..." the Doctor took another step towards the boy. "I'm so sorry, but you deserve to know the truth. Your father <em>is </em>alive. And he's fighting for the Empire."</p><p>Luke wailed. Rose ran to him and knelt beside him, putting an arm around his shoulders. "It's okay. I know this is a shock. But you aren't defined by your father. It doesn't matter that he's sided with the Empire. You have an aunt and uncle who love you, and they're good people."</p><p>"They <em>lied </em>to me!" Tears streamed down Luke's face. "They said he was <em>dead!"</em></p><p>"They were just trying to protect you," the Doctor said softly.</p><p>"But I deserved to know the truth!"</p><p>R2D2 moved forward. "If you want to know the truth about your father, Obi-Wan Kenobi can tell you everything." C3PO translated the words into the common tongue for Luke.</p><p>Luke ignored the droids and clung to Rose, crying into her shoulder. She stroked his back as she glared at the Doctor. <em>You didn't need to be so blunt, </em>she thought.</p><p><em>I know, I'm sorry, </em>the Doctor replied, and Rose jumped. His telepathy really was getting strong.</p><p>Eventually Luke lifted his head, his eyes red from crying, and he turned to look at C3PO. "Ben knows more about my father?"</p><p>"R2D2 seems to think so, although I wouldn't take his word for it - with all we've been through he's gotten a little eccentric."</p><p>"His word is good enough for me." Luke stood. "Right. Let's go. I'll take you to meet Ben." His voice was dark with anger. He headed for the door, wiping his eyes. "Come on!"</p><p>The Doctor helped Rose to her feet.</p><p>"You really shouldn't have told him that his father fights for the Empire," she said accusingly.</p><p>The Doctor put an arm around her and ushered her after Luke, the droids following. "Maybe I could have been more tactful. But he does have the right to know. Wouldn't you want to know if Pete was alive, no matter what he had become?"</p><p>Rose bit her lip, a lump rising in her throat as she was reminded yet again of the day her father had died. The Doctor's arm tightened about her shoulders.</p><p>"Stay out of my head," she muttered.</p><p>"I can't really help it," he replied. "Your thoughts are... strong. Whatever is amplifying my telepathy, I think it's affecting you too."</p><p>"The energy you mentioned? It's inside me?"</p><p>"I think it's inside everything here, but it's affecting you especially."</p><p>"Less talk, more action," Luke said in a cold voice, beckoning for them to follow more quickly. He was leading the way out of the moisture farm, across the sand to where his landspeeder was parked beside a moisture collector. His shoulders were hunched, his every muscle tense. Rose hoped that Obi-Wan Kenobi would be able to provide him with closure. Luke looked like he was on the precipice of a total breakdown. And after the news he'd received, she didn't blame him.</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0010"><h2>10. A Disturbance in the Force</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry for the wait for this chapter. My goal is to publish every other day but life often gets in the way.</p><p>My fiance is proud of me for finally starting to share my writing with others (rather than just writing for myself because I was too shy to share it) and has suggested a pizza party once I get to 250 reads. Nearly there! Thank you to everyone who's helping me get closer to pizza!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ben sat cross legged atop a cliff overlooking the dune sea. A hot breeze ruffled his thin white hair. His eyes were closed, his face was relaxed. He was meditating.</p><p>He focused on clearing his mind of all thoughts. Emptying it out of worries and cares. Letting it settle like a tranquil pool. Gradually, he reached out with the Force, sensing the world around him. He felt the gentle plodding of the wild bantha herds. The cruelty and violence of the Tuskan tribes. But it was Luke he was searching for. Luke Skywalker, the teenage son of the padawan Ben had lost to the dark side. He had failed Anakin. He wouldn't fail Luke. He would keep an eye on him, keep him safe, keep him away from the temptation of the dark side.</p><p>Ben stretched out his focus further, probing the Force for the unique signature that represented Luke. Luke was always easy to find. The Force was strong with him.</p><p>
  <em>WHAT was that?!</em>
</p><p>Ben gasped and his eyes flew open. He had sensed Luke, but there was another, greater disturbance in the Force with him. Something stronger than anything he had sensed before. Stronger than Anakin, stronger than Palpatine, stronger than Yoda. And this powerful being, along with Luke, was travelling rapidly towards Ben's home.</p><p>Ben leapt up, his agility belying the appearance of his age. He ran down the steep slope between the clifftop and his house, his dark brown robes billowing out behind him.</p><p>Ben's house was like a miniature sandstone fortress. A small domed dwelling surrounded by a high wall. It was more for protection from sun than from intruders; the wall had no gate, just a wide opening that Ben ran through. The wall was high enough to provide shade for the little sand courtyard the surrounded the house, keeping Ben's moisture collector cool so that the water was cold and refreshing. The house itself was very small and simple - just a living room, a bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom. The entryway led directly into the living room. Ben darted in and heaved open the heavy lid of very large, very old chest.</p><p>He looked down into the chest, heart thudding. Memories inundated him. There was his light saber, the hilt gleaming silver in the dim light, nestled next the one that had belonged to Anakin. Tears prickled the backs of Ben's eyes. That was <em>Anakin's </em>saber, not Darth Vader's. The blade was a good, clean, pure blue. Not the baleful red that Vader wielded.</p><p>A sudden burst of Force energy flowed through the ground, making it tremble. Ben staggered backwards. What - <em>who - </em>was that?! Who could possibly be that powerful with the Force?</p><p>Luke's force signature was weaker now.</p><p>Ben snatched up his lightsaber and a blaster, hung them from his belt, and dashed back outside. He pelted along the desert track towards the rocky canyon the Force energy was coming from. But despite his daily exercises he was not a young man and he soon had to slow to a jog, gasping and clutching his sides.</p><p>He rounded a corner to see destruction. Luke's landspeeder had smashed into the bottom of a cliff with so much force it had exploded. His heart in his throat, Ben ran toward the wreckage. He was horrified and expected to find Luke dead, but he had Jedi training to cope with panic; he pushed his feelings down, smothered them, focused on the Force. Luke's presence was still here. He couldn't be dead.</p><p>There were no people in or around the speeder. It must have been empty when it crashed. But speeders weren't equipped with an auto pilot, how had it driven into the cliff with no driver?</p><p>The powerful person was nearby, with Luke. Ben turned this way and that, casting his eyes across the canyon. Nothing but sand and rocks. They weren't within sight, but he could sense them. He followed his senses down the canyon, the walls looming up on either side and casting him into shadow. Around the next corner he came across the twisted bodies of four Tuskan raiders. Ben stopped and looked down at them, shuddering. It looked like someone had used the Force to <em>crush </em>them. But who would be capable of such a powerful and cruel use of the Force? It seemed like the sort of thing a Sith would do, but that powerful presence, though frightening, was at least not familiar - it wasn't Palpatine or Vader.</p><p>A familiar voice called out, incongruously cheerful. "Beep boop beep!" Ben spun, a thrill running through him. He knew that droid.</p><p>"R2D2?!"</p><p>The little astromech came careening out of a cave in the cliffside, chattering excitedly.</p><p>"R2, it <em>is</em> you! It has been a long time, old friend. What are you doing here? ...What? Teleporting space ship? Time travel? R2, you're not making sense... Listen, are you with Luke?"</p><p>R2 led Ben into the cave he had emerged from. It was just a depression in the side of the cliff, barely big enough to hide a small group of people in shadow. Inside was Luke, lying unconscious beside a similarly unconscious man with outlandish clothing, tight and striped. Kneeling beside this man, shaking him and begging "Doctor, please wake up!" was a slim girl with long blonde hair. In the corner of the cave lay C3PO, in pieces.</p><p>"Hello there." Ben said in a gentle voice, trying not to frighten the obviously distressed girl.</p><p>She leapt to her feet and whirled to face him, fists clenched. "Who are you?! Are you with the sand people? I won't let you hurt my friends!" Her eyes blazed with anger, and a sudden wind picked up, spiralling around the small cave.</p><p>Ben gasped. The disturbance in the force was coming from <em>her, </em>and was growing stronger as she grew angry. She clearly didn't know how to control her power.</p><p>He held up his hands placatingly, palms out. "I'm not a threat. You don't need to harm me. I've come to try and help me friend, Luke."</p><p>The girl blinked and the wind died down. "You're a friend of Luke's? Are you Ben Kenobi?"</p><p>"I am."</p><p>"We were on our way to see you, Luke wanted to talk to you... But..." Her lip quivered and her pretty brown eyes filled with tears. "...there were sand people..."</p><p>"It's alright now, child. Tell me what happened."</p><p>"They shot the Doctor! They shot my best friend! But I can't find the wound. Is he going to be okay?"</p><p>Ben knelt down beside the unconscious man and placed a hand on his forehead, reaching out with the Force to examine him. He did the same to Luke. As he touched Luke's forehead the boy groaned and squinted his eyes open.</p><p>"Take it easy there, son," Ben said, helping Luke up into a sitting position. "You've had a busy day! I'm surprised to find you all in one piece."</p><p>"What about the Doctor?" The girl demanded.</p><p>"He'll be just fine," Ben promised. "You must have healed the wound by transferring some of your life force to him. I could sense it."</p><p>"But I don't know how to do anything like that!" The girl protested.</p><p>"Indeed," Ben murmured, "your power is very new to you, isn't it?"</p><p>"What power?"</p><p>"<em>Very </em>new, then. I can teach you to control it. Let's get your friend back to my house, he can rest there until his body is ready to wake up."</p><p>"He's in a coma?!"</p><p>"He's just knocked out. He'll be fine."</p><p>~~~</p><p>Ben used his cloak to form a sled for R2D2 to pull, and placed all of C3PO's parts on it. The protocol droid was not badly damaged, but had been torn apart by the Force blast from the girl named Rose, and would need to be put back together. He and Luke carried the Doctor between them and, along with Rose and the two droids, they traipsed through the canyon and along a track of hard sand to Ben's home.</p><p>Luke was unusually quiet. His expression was grim. Ben decided to leave him be until he was ready to talk about whatever was bothering him.</p><p>Back at the house R2 got to work welding C3PO's parts back together as Ben and Rose put the Doctor to bed. Luke lounged in the living room with a brooding expression on his face. Ben sensed an emotional thunderstorm coming. He made a pot of tea and set down in the living room with Rose and Luke.</p><p>The internal walls, ceiling and floor of the room were the same tan-coloured sandstone as the rest of the architecture. Low benches lined the walls, along with a couple of more comfortable armchairs, one of which Ben sank into. He placed a tray of cutlery and a steaming teapot onto the wooden table before him.</p><p>"We have a lot to discuss," he said, pouring tea.</p><p>"I'll say." Luke growled.</p><p>"Perhaps the two of you could fill me in?" Ben asked. "Where did you find these droids? What happened to the sand people and the speeder?"</p><p>"No!" Luke snapped, "I think <em>you </em>should fill <em>me </em>in! R2D2 tells me that you knew my father. No - not knew, know. My father is alive, isn't he? Why didn't you or my aunt or my uncle ever tell me?!"</p><p>Ben sighed and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his hands over his face. This was a disaster. The boy wasn't ready to know, he couldn't handle it.</p><p>"Luke, I always planned to tell you when you were ready."</p><p>"You don't get to decide that!"</p><p>"I know. But it was important to wait until you were old enough to be sensible about it. I didn't want you running off in search of your father. We had to keep you out of the Emperor's clutches."</p><p>"The Emperor?! What has he got to do with anything?"</p><p>"How much do you already know?"</p><p>"No, you don't get to ask that. You don't get to know what things not to tell me. I want to know <em>everything."</em></p><p>Ben sighed. "It is a long and tragic tale."</p><p>"I <em>don't care!! </em>Tell me."</p><p>And so, Ben did. Luke and Rose sat and drank their tea as Ben talked. They didn't interrupt. They just listened. Ben told them about the Republic, the Jedi, the Force, the light side and the dark side. He told them about the little boy he had met on this planet when he was just a padawan himself. He told them about the death of his own master, and about how he had adopted that boy into his care. He told them about Anakin's forbidden marriage with Padme, her pregnancy, Anakin's desire to save her from dying in childbirth, his fall to the dark side. He began to tell Luke about his birth when he hesitated.</p><p>Should he tell Luke about Leia? If the boy found out he had a sister he would undoubtedly want to run off and meet her. Ben needed to keep him safe. But he would have to find out about his sister one day, and he was already angry about being lied to. If Ben didn't tell him the whole truth now then when Luke found out he might never trust Ben again. And if Ben were to train Luke as a Jedi, as he had always hoped to do, he would need to regain the boy's trust.</p><p>"Your mother died in childbirth, just as Anakin's dream had predicted," he said sadly. "I was there with her. I held her hand. She lived just long enough to name you before she passed away. You... and your twin sister."</p><p>Luke's cup shattered on the sandstone floor, pieces of china flying everywhere. The aromatic scent of herbal tea rose from the steaming puddle.</p><p>"My <em>sister?</em>"</p><p>"That's right. We split you up to make it harder for the Sith to sense you. She was adopted by Bail Organa, Prince of Alderaan. Her name is Leia."</p><p>At the name R2D2, who had shut himself down in the corner after fixing C3PO, switched on and rolled forward. "I have an urgent message from Leia Organa to Obi-Wan Kenobi!" he beeped.</p><p>There was a clicking sound as R2 activated something, and then his hologram projector switched on and a transparent, blue miniature of Leia appeared on Ben's coffee table.</p><p>"General Kenobi. Years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire. I regret that I am unable to present my father's request to you in person, but my ship has fallen under attack and I'm afraid my mission to bring you to Alderaan has failed. I have placed information vital to the survival of the rebellion into the memory systems of this R2 unit. My father will know how to retrieve it. You <em>must </em>see this droid safely delivered to him on Alderaan! This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."</p><p>The hologram switched off. In the silence that followed the clinking of small pieces of china was overly loud as C3PO cleaned up the mess of Luke's smashed teacup.</p><p>Ben had to use the Force to steady the cup in his trembling hands. Leia was in danger. He wanted to keep her safe as well as Luke, but he couldn't leave Luke on Tattooine without protection.</p><p>"Was that my sister?" Luke breathed.</p><p>Perhaps bringing Luke with him was the best solution. It would give him the chance to begin Luke's training, too.</p><p>"Yes, that was Princess Leia Organa."</p><p>"She's in danger! You've got to help her!"</p><p>Ben shook his head. "I'm getting too old for this sort of thing, Luke. I can't help her by myself. I need you to come with me."</p><p>"I can't just run off, my Aunt and Uncle are probably worried enough about me as it is."</p><p>A weak voice came from the doorway to the bedroom. "I think I can help with that predicament."</p><p>Ben looked up as Rose leapt to her feet with a excited "Doctor!" and flew into the arms of the man leaning against the door frame. He looked pale and tired, but Ben could sense no injury in him.</p><p>"Ah, you're finally awake." Ben waved the tall, thin man into a chair and poured him a cup of tea. "How are you feeling?"</p><p>"Exhausted. What happened?"</p><p>"I don't really know. Perhaps your companion would be able to enlighten us?" Ben asked, turning to Rose. She sat down beside the Doctor on Ben's small sofa.</p><p>Rose shrugged. "I'm sorry, I wish I could help. But I don't remember much. We were attacked by people with laser guns. Luke called them sand people. One of them shot the Doctor and... Well, I think I had a panic attack." The Doctor's forehead creased with concern and he placed an arm around his friend. "Next thing I knew I was sheltering in a cave with R2D2, and everyone else was unconscious. I could have sworn that a laser bolt went right through you, Doctor, but there was no wound. Ben said <em>I </em>healed you."</p><p>The Doctor poked at a hole in his clothing, centred over his heart. "Well, I was certainly shot. But there's no wound, and I didn't regenerate. <em>Something </em>healed me."</p><p>"Yes." Ben nodded slowly. "The Force is strong with you, Rose."</p><p>"What <em>is </em>the Force?" Rose asked.</p><p>"The Force is what gives a Jedi their power," Ben replied. "It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together."</p><p>"That's what's been making my telepathy so strong," the Doctor mused.</p><p>"Yes, I can certainly sense an influence over the Force from you," Ben said, "but nothing like your young friend here. Rose, I have never before sensed a Force disturbance as strong as yours. You are incredibly powerful. You must be taught to control it."</p><p>"Who can teach me?" Rose asked.</p><p>"I can - and I can teach you, Doctor, and Luke. But the training takes a long time and there are urgent matters afoot. You must come with me to Alderaan so that I can train you as we travel."</p><p>"Ah, about that." The Doctor grinned and leaned forward. "There isn't going to be much travel time. I have a ship that can get us there in an instant. And as for your Aunt and Uncle worrying about you, Luke, and I take you back to the moment you left the moisture farm, no matter how long we spend away."</p><p>"How?" Luke asked.</p><p>"Time travel."</p><p>Ben scoffed. "Time travel is impossible."</p><p>"No," R2 beeped, "I have been in the Doctor's ship, and it <em>can </em>travel in time!"</p><p>"All this talk of time travel is making my head hurt," C3PO groaned.</p><p>Ben narrowed his eyes at R2. The little droid had always been eccentric and strong willed, but never a liar. Could it be? Could time travel exist? And if it did... Could he go back to before Anakin had fallen to the dark side and prevent it from happening in the first place? First he needed to determine whether time travel was possible.</p><p>"Well, if you can get us to Alderaan I'll get in your ship, Doctor," Ben said. "If it really can travel in time I'll be very impressed. Where is it?"</p><p>"Oh... it's back at the moisture farm," the Doctor sighed. "And during Rose's... 'panic attack', I think she sent our landspeeder flying into a cliff and destroyed it."</p><p>"I what?!" Rose snorted. "Don't be ridiculous, I couldn't lift that speeder!"</p><p>"Not with your body," Ben said, "but the Force can amplify your strength. That's why it's so important for you to learn control."</p><p>Rose paled. "I... I could have killed someone!"</p><p>Ben decided to tactfully avoid telling her that she <em>had, </em>in fact, killed sand people. She didn't need to know that right now. Additional stress would just make her more dangerous.</p><p>"It doesn't matter about the speeder," he said, "I have transport that can get us to the moisture farm. And once there, you will all come with me to Alderaan?"</p><p>"My ship can take us all there," the Doctor said, and Rose nodded.</p><p>"Oh," C3PO sighed, "I suppose I have no choice."</p><p>R2D2 beeped enthusiastically.</p><p>"If you promise you really can get me back in time for my Aunt and Uncle not to miss me, Doctor," Luke said, "then I'm in. I want to meet my sister."</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Banthas</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The beasts were so very incredibly fluffy. Rose had never seen anything like them. They were the size of hippos, with long chocolate brown fur, furry tails that swept along the ground behind them, and enormous horns that spiralled out from their foreheads. The two gigantic creatures were called banthas, and were grazing a field of cultivated cactus behind Ben's house. They were his idea of transport back to the moisture farm.</p><p>Ben and Luke emerged from the house to join Rose and the Doctor, who were standing on the edge of the cactus field, gawping at the huge animals that were used in lieu of horses on Tattooine. The field was not fenced in, but the two banthas seemed content to do Ben's bidding and not wander off.</p><p>"What's that you've got there, kid?" the Doctor asked.</p><p>Rose turned to see Luke holding a shiny silver cylinder.</p><p>"My father's lightsaber," Luke said in awe. "Anakin's lightsaber. The one he had before he became Darth Vader. Ben gave it to me."</p><p>"When the dark side took over Anakin and turned him into Vader," Ben said, "his personality changed. He became another person. You may as well think of your father as dead, Luke. I think of my padawan as dead. That blade is the legacy of the <em>real </em>Anakin, and I think the realAnakin would be proud to see you wield it."</p><p>Luke's hand tightened around the weapon's hilt. "I won't let him down."</p><p>He pressed a button on the hilt, and with a <em>bshwooom </em>the saber ignited, a white-blue blade of light appearing from the hilt. It hummed softly as Luke held it before him, the blade's light reflected in his similarly coloured eyes. The closest bantha started back with a snort.</p><p>"I have something for you too, Rose," Ben said, moving around Luke to stand beside her. He handed her a similar object to the one that Luke was holding. "This is my own lightsaber."</p><p>"I can't take this," Rose protested, "it's yours!"</p><p>"I am too old to use it anymore," Ben sighed, "and I have no heir to pass it along to... apart from you. Luke already has a weapon, and I sense that the Doctor's skill with the Force is limited to mental abilities. If you three are to become my padawan learners, you are the one best suited to inheriting my saber."</p><p>Rose smiled. "I am honoured."</p><p>She activated the blade, carefully angling the hilt away from her first. It shone the same colour as Luke's and sent a shiver of energy through her. She felt powerful.</p><p>"That weapon will help you to control your power," Obi-Wan said. "You can train with it as an outlet to prevent uncontrolled bursts."</p><p>Rose nodded. She retracted her blade with a <em>shhhick, </em>and Luke did the same. She hung the weapon from the waistband of her jeans, and Luke hung his from his belt.</p><p>"Now, let's get ready for travel," Ben said, stepping forward. He clicked his tongue and the banthas came trotting obediantly towards him. Rose couldn't help but take a step back, unnerved by their size as they loomed over her.</p><p>"It's alright," the Doctor said as Ben began saddling the animals with Luke's help, "they won't hurt you." He slipped an arm about her waist, his touch sending a tingle up her spine. "I can see into their minds."</p><p>One of the banthas sniffed at Rose curiously, its warm breath blowing over her. She reached out tentatively and placed a hand on its snout, her fingers sinking into luxuriously thick fur. The animal made a deep rumbling sound that resonated through the ground.</p><p>"She likes you," the Doctor said.</p><p>Once both of the banthas had been saddled Rose and the Doctor climbed awkwardly into the saddle of the female one. The Doctor had to give Rose a boost; the beasts were so tall it was difficult to even reach the saddle from the ground. Rose settled gingerly into the saddle and clung to the mount with her legs, grabbing handfuls of fur. She had never even ridden a horse before. The Doctor sat behind her and wound one arm around her waist.</p><p>The Rose turned to look at the other bantha, and chuckled. Luke was standing on its back, hauling at R2 as Ben and C3PO pushed from below. The awkwardly shaped little droid had to be placed sideways across the bantha's hindquarters and strapped into place so that he wouldn't off. Then Ben and Luke helped C3PO up into the saddle, and Ben sprang up behind the Doctor, with surprising nimbleness for his age.</p><p>There were no reins with which to control the banthas, but Ben clucked his tongue and they obediently started off at an ambling gait, the female taking the lead. Ben directed them to turn left or right with verbal commands.</p><p>"Have they got names?" Rose called back to Ben.</p><p>"This one is called Amidala," Ben replied, slapping his mount's side. "And the other is named Qui-Gon."</p><p>The banthas never broke into a run, but their legs were so long that at a fast walk they could cover ground at a decent pace. It only took a couple of hours for Ben to guide them around the canyon that Luke had taken his speeder through, all the way back to the moisture farm.</p><p>After sitting stiffly in the saddle for a while Rose began to relax. She released her death grip on the handfuls of fur she was holding and patted the bantha instead, smiling when it once again emitted that deep rumble.</p><p>"Is that your ship, Doctor?" Ben asked as they approached the moisture farm, pointing to the TARDIS, which was now back to its beautiful blue self. The rectangular exterior stood starkly contrasted against the golden sand, about 500 metres away from the entrance to the moisture farm.</p><p>"Yes it is," the Doctor grinned.</p><p>Ben snorted. "We aren't all going to fit in there."</p><p>"Oh, you'd be surprised," the Doctor said, attempting to slide off Amidala's back. He sprawled inelegantly into the sand.</p><p>"Doctor! Are you alright?" Rose cried, and Amidala snorted and shook and shook her head.</p><p>"Speak gently," Ben said, "sharp words startle them."</p><p>"I'm okay," the Doctor groaned, clambering to his feet and dusting himself off.</p><p>Ben jumped gracefully to the ground and offered Rose his hand to steady herself while she climbed down.</p><p>"What will happen to the banthas?" Rose asked. "We can't just leave them."</p><p>Amidala lowered her great head to nuzzle at Rose, who hugged the enormous snout with a childish laugh.</p><p>"They'll be fine," Ben said, giving the beast's side an affectionate pat. "They know the way home."</p><p>"What about the sand people?" Rose asked uncertainly. "What if they steal them or hurt them?"</p><p>Ben sighed. "The fate of the entire galaxy is at stake, Rose," he said. "I have bigger worries than a couple of animals."</p><p>Rose scowled. "These banthas are your pets! They helped us get here. You should care about them."</p><p>"I do, but I care about Princess Leia more."</p><p>"Well I don't." Rose turned to give Amidala one final hug. "We have a time machine," she whispered, "and I'll make sure the Doctor is extra careful with navigation. We'll be back in just a few seconds to take you safely home, I promise." She gave the fluffy creature a kiss on the nose, and then turned reluctantly away to follow the Doctor into the TARDIS.</p><p>"This still hurts my head," C3PO whined as he entered the dimensional ship with R2D2. "It simply isn't logical. Your ship, Doctor, is quite frankly ridiculous." He shook his head and marched over to the sofa, muttering under his breath.</p><p>Rose laughed as Ben and Luke entered the console room, gaping.</p><p>"It's..." Luke breathed, "it's..."</p><p>"This must be a trick!" Ben hurried outside for what Rose assumed was a loop around the exterior. There was always someone who had to do it. "It's bigger on the inside!" he shouted.</p><p>"I know," Rose giggled, "it's awesome, isn't it?" She walked over to close the door behind Ben as he came back in, and waved to the banthas one last time. "Back soon!" She promised.</p><p>The TARDIS took off with its usual <em>VWORP VWORP </em>and a great deal of jostling, sending Luke and Ben staggering around. Rose clung to the railing and widened her stance for balance. She was an experienced time vortex traveller.</p><p>"Sorry about all the turbulence," the Doctor shouted as he danced around the console. "This ship is designed for eight pilots but I have to fly it all by myself. Ben, can you come over here and input Alderaan's coordinates into the flight computer?"</p><p>By the time the TARDIS landed, Luke had fallen to the floor. Rose straightened up and pushed her hair back from her face. She focused on the Doctor to find him staring at the TARDIS door with a look of horror on his face. Ben was similarly transfixed.</p><p>"Doctor? Ben?" She asked. "What's wrong?"</p><p>Luke, groaning, clambered to his feet.</p><p>"I had a vision," Ben whispered, "brought to me by the Force. Alderaan, destroyed." He shook his head. "What could do such a thing?"</p><p>"I see the same thing, as a possible future in the time vortex," the Doctor said. "Alderaan is in mortal danger. I think there will be a cataclysmic event, like a great earthquake or volcano. Everyone will be killed."</p><p>Rose went to the door and opened it. The view was beautiful. They were nestled in between two rocky snow-tipped mountains, overlooking a futuristic city of gleaming silver towers. A sparkling blue lake was spread out in the centre of the city. There was no farmland or roads; the towers were surrounded by verdant forest and lush grass. It was stunning, and tranquil. The world seemed to be at peace.</p><p>"Look," she beckoned to the others to join her, "there's no danger. Alderaan is safe. If there was some cataclysmic event happening, wouldn't we be able to see signs of it starting?"</p><p>Then her hands began to tremble and her stomach tightened. It felt like a shadow was passing over her soul. Deep dread welled up within her. "Something's coming!" she gasped. She looked up at the sky. "Something big."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Alderaan's Peril</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rose stumbled out of the TARDIS, hands pressed to her head. Her canvas shoes sank into soft grass and moss. Birds tweeted in the trees that cast dappled shade. The air smelt of the sweet fragrance of flowers. But all Rose could think about was looming terror.</p><p>She squeezed her eyes shut. After a moment a gentle voice came from in front of her - the Doctor. She hadn't noticed him approach.</p><p>"Rose."</p><p>He placed his hands on her shoulders. "Rose, what's wrong? Tell me."</p><p>"Death!" She gasped. "A... moon of death."</p><p>"What does that mean?" The Doctor asked.</p><p>Rose sensed Ben's presence near her. "The Force can be cryptic," he said. "It doesn't communicate the way we do. She might have a vision, glean a few impressions, or just sense a disturbance."</p><p>"It's coming," Rose whimpered.</p><p>"But what <em>is </em>it?" The Doctor asked.</p><p>"I don't know."</p><p>"How long do we have?"</p><p>"I don't know... We have some time... a day maybe?" She shook her head. "I can't tell anything precise."</p><p>The shadow abruptly left her and she wilted, the Doctor catching her before she could fall. "Hey." He shook her a little. "Rose. Are you alright?"</p><p>She sighed and blinked her eyes open, feeling like she was waking up from a long nap. "I... I think so." She pushed herself back upright, swaying a little. "We have to stop the moon of death."</p><p>"How?" Luke asked, coming out to join them. "We don't even know what it is."</p><p>"We may be able to sense more as whatever it is draws near," Ben said. "There's nothing we can do for now. Rose said we've got a day."</p><p>"I don't know that for sure!"</p><p>"I trust the Force, and I trust your instincts. I think we should plan as though we've got a day before this moon arrives. We need to convince Prince Bail Organa to evacuate Alderaan."</p><p>"Evacuate the whole <em>planet?!" </em> Rose gasped. "How?"</p><p>"We may not be able to complete the task," Ben said grimly, "but we can save as many as we can using Alderaan's merchant fleet."</p><p>"The TARDIS can help too," the Doctor said. "I can fit a <em>lot </em>of people inside, and take them instantly to another planet."</p><p>Ben nodded. "Okay. We need to contact Bail as quickly as possible." He shaded his eyes, looking out in the direction of the silver city. "That's his home there, the larger tower, do you see it Doctor? Can you land your ship closer?"</p><p>"I certainly can. Come on!"</p><p>~~~</p><p>Rose followed the Doctor out of the TARDIS, unsure where they had landed. She couldn't see past his great billowing coat as she stepped through the doorway, and as he moved to one side she shrieked. She was teetering on the edge of a great drop. They had landed in the sky!</p><p>Rose began to tip, screaming, and she reacted on instinct. She leapt, twisting her body, curving backwards into a graceful backflip to land on top of the TARDIS - or at least that was what she tried to do, but the Doctor grabbed her wrist before her feet could leave the narrow ledge they were slipping from. He was trying to make her fall!</p><p>Rose threw her hands out in front of her, pushing on the air before her with so much Force that she was thrown back into the TARDIS, into safety.</p><p>"Rose, are you alright?" The Doctor asked, following her back through the doorway. "Sorry for the bad landing- hrrk," he began to cough and splutter, hands clutching at his throat.</p><p>Rose, snarling, had thrown up her hand towards the Doctor and curled her fingers into claws. He had tried to kill her! She wanted him to stay back.</p><p>"R...ose..." he gasped, falling to his knees.</p><p><b>"Stop!" </b>Ben commanded, and something slammed into Rose and sent her flying into the wall.</p><p>She struggled back up to her feet, growling. How DARE they attack her?!</p><p>"Rose?" Luke asked, his voice small. Rose locked her eyes onto him and he took a step back, his own eyes wide. The rage melted away.</p><p>"Doctor! Doctor, I'm so sorry," Rose cried, running to the man she loved and kneeling beside him. "Did I hurt you?"</p><p>The Doctor coughed, rubbing his throat. "Just a bit of bruising," he said, his voice rasping. "Nothing that won't heal."</p><p>Rose couldn't stop shaking, tears running down her cheeks. She pawed at the Doctor's arm. "I'm so sorry, so so sorry, how can I make this right?"</p><p>"Hey, shh," the Doctor soothed, pulling Rose into an embrace. "It's not your fault. You weren't yourself."</p><p>"Indeed not," Ben murmured, from somewhere behind Rose. "The dark side had a hold of you just then."</p><p>Rose was too busy crying to respond.</p><p>"Is this what happened to my father?" Luke asked.</p><p>"No," Ben responded, "he was seduced by the dark side, but he never lost his mind. His mind was just misled. He retains his reason, but he thinks that the Empire is what's best for our galaxy... or maybe he thinks it's what the galaxy deserves. Rose, though... I've never seen anything like this before. It's like you just lashed out with no cause."</p><p>Rose tried to sniff back her tears, but her voice broke as she talked. "It wasn't without cause. I thought the Doctor was trying to push me off the edge."</p><p>"Rose!" The Doctor gasped, "I would never do such a thing! I would never harm you!"</p><p>"I wish I could say the same thing!" She wailed.</p><p>"Hush now," the Doctor breathed, tightening his arms around her. They were sitting on the floor together, and he'd pulled her onto his lap. "You didn't react on purpose. The Force is something totally knew to both of us. It's understandable that you don't know how to control it."</p><p>"I don't just not know how to control it, <em>it </em>controlled <em>me! </em>The Dark side!"</p><p>"I keep telling you, it's not your fault." The Doctor helped Rose to her feet and gently wiped her tears away. "Ben will teach of how to control the Force, and then that pesky dark side won't be able to control you anymore. Okay?"</p><p>Rose swallowed down the last of her sobs and wiped her nose on her sleeve. "Okay, I guess..." She turned to face the others, and flinched at their expressions. Ben looked worried, and Luke looked horrified.</p><p>"I'm sorry," she whispered.</p><p>"Your training is a more urgent matter than I thought," Ben mused. "I had planned to begin your training on the way to Alderaan but, Doctor, your ship really is amazing. You <em>did </em>get us here in an instant. And now, with this moon of death coming, I have to focus on the evacuation of Alderaan. But Rose, I promise that as soon as this crisis is over I'll start teaching you how to control your power. In the meantime, if you begin to feel overwhelmed by fear or rage you need to distance yourself from other people."</p><p>Rose nodded. "Okay."</p><p>"Where have we landed?" Luke asked, heading to the door and opening it. Rose peered out over his shoulder. They weren't in the sky, after all - or at least, not quite. The TARDIS was perched precariously on the edge of a wooden platform. The ledge that Rose had found herself almost slipping off was the very edge of the wooden surface.</p><p>"Shut the door, Luke," the Doctor called, "I'm gonna turn us around."</p><p>After a quick de- and re-materialisation Rose looked out once again to see that the wooden platform was a deck that jutted out from the side of one of the silver towers. A gleaming door inlaid with intricate designs led into the tower proper, and sitting on a smooth white bench near the door was a man and a woman, their arms around each other, staring at the TARDIS with shocked expressions. The man's eyes shifted to Ben, and his expression changed from plain shocked to incredulous.</p><p>"Obi-Wan Kenobi?!"</p><p>Rose and her five companions stepped (or rolled in the case of R2D2) out onto the deck, the man's eyes widening still further as he saw how many of them there were.</p><p>He had a dusky complexion and dark, neatly trimmed hair and beard. He wore a green cape over a brown tunic. The woman was olive-skinned with long, flowing black hair and an elegant blue dress. Their clothing was simple but of fine make, and despite their shock they carried themselves with a regal posture and didn't allow their surprise to reach further than their eyes.</p><p>The man stood and walked slowly towards Ben. As he drew closer Rose saw that his eyes were bloodstained, as though he'd been crying. She wiped at her own eyes, suddenly realizing that she probably looked a mess with running mascara.</p><p>"It's been a long time, Jedi Master," the man said. "But I recognize you. You <em>are </em>Obi-Wan. But how can you be here? Leia..." his face crumpled. "My daughter's mission failed. She was captured by the Empire before she could reach Tattooine."</p><p>The woman, still seated on the bench, began sobbing into her hands. C3PO pottered over to her and sat beside her, patting her back mechanically.</p><p>"Prince Bail Organa," Ben said formally with a small bow. And then, in a friendlier tone, "Bail. I intend to rescue your daughter. This is my padawan, the Doctor, and his remarkable ship will be able to take us to Leia right way once we figure out where she is. But - I hate to say it - there are more urgent matters afoot."</p><p>Bail bristled. "More urgent matters than my daughter in the hands of Darth Vader?! She could be executed at any minute! She could be being tortured!"</p><p>"The entire planet is in imminent danger," Ben said, the words falling like an executioner's axe, rendering Bail speechless. "The Doctor claims that his ship can travel in time. Once the planet is safe we can simply go back and rescue Leia right before she gets captured."</p><p>"Erm..." the Doctor stepped forward. "That's not quite how it works. There are rules."</p><p>Ben turned on him with narrowed eyes. "Rules? Excuses to not prove that time travel works, you mean? I suspected you were lying about the time travel. It was too good to be true. I suppose you just said it to convince Luke to leave Tattooine."</p><p>"He's not lying!" Rose snapped. "But there <em>are </em>rules, and they're important. If we create a paradox, time gets damaged." Her temper flared at Ben's accusation of the Doctor, and she felt violent urges swelling within her. She stepped back, removing herself from the argument, and focused on breathing deeply.</p><p>"R2D2 and C3PO boarded the TARDIS during the attack on Leia's ship," the Doctor said. "I cannot do anything to prevent that attack from happening when the attack is one of the reasons I am involved. That would be a paradox."</p><p>Bail groaned. "Why did you give me hope, Ben?"</p><p>"There is always hope!" Ben insisted, placing a hand on Bail's arm. "We'll find a way to save Leia! Doctor, can't you go back to just after the droids boarded the TARDIS, to save Leia without creating a paradox?"</p><p>"I can't go back on my own personal timeline," the Doctor said. "Not once I'm involved in historical events. I cannot travel back until history has settled into a new path."</p><p>"But you said you could take me back to the moisture farm in time for my aunt and uncle to not miss me!" Luke protested.</p><p>"Yes, I can and I will," the Doctor said, "once history has settled into a new path. For the time being, I am as trapped in the present as the rest of you."</p><p>"But this is rediculous," Ben insisted, "all actions, no matter how small, change history in some way. History will never 'settle'."</p><p>The Doctor shook his head. "Small actions may affect individuals in big ways, but not history itself. Time is flexible, and it resists change. It counteracts the effects of small actions. Big actions, though - such as evacuating Alderaan - that sort of thing disturbs time, and if I travel through the disturbance I could very easily create a paradox by mistake."</p><p>"Oh for goodness' sakes," Bail snapped, "none of this matters. Whether time travel doesn't exist, or does exist and can't be done right now, the fact is that my daughter is in danger and a magical time travelling ship isn't going to save her. Ben, please, you have to help her."</p><p>"I <em>am </em>helping her," Ben said, "in the way she asked me to. She sent me a message, asking not for rescue, but for me to get this droid to you." R2D2 moved forward to stand before Bail. "It's carrying blueprints that Leia said you would need."</p><p>"The death star plans!" Bail gasped.</p><p>Rose felt a burst of epiphany, like a word on the tip of her tongue finally coming into full focus. "Death Star!," she cried, "that's what I sensed! The moon of death, that's the Death Star. I think I can see it, now... A metal orb in space. It's size is impossible! It's coming our way."</p><p>Bail paled. "The Death Star has been described as a planet killer. If it's on its way here then you were right, Ben. We need to evacuate Alderaan."</p><p>"Doctor," Ben said, "now that we know what's coming, can you land your TARDIS on the Death Star?"</p><p>"I can scan for it," the Doctor said, "and if I find it, I can certainly try."</p><p>"Right," Bail said, his voice taking on a commanding tone. "Doctor, this ship of yours can travel anywhere in an instant, correct?"</p><p>The Doctor grinned. "That's right! Best ship in the Universe."</p><p>"If I give you the coordinates of the Rebel Alliance Base, can you take me and this droid there?"</p><p>"Of course"</p><p>"Ben," Bail said, "will you try to take down the Death Star from the inside? It will be dangerous..."</p><p>Ben snorted. "Prince Organa, danger is my specialty."</p><p>"My darling," Ben turned to his wife, who rose and crossed the deck to hold his hands in hers. "We will do everything we can to stop this monstrous creation from reaching Alderaan. But in the meantime you must evacuate as much of the populace as you can, just in case."</p><p>"What of Leia?" the elegant woman whispered, tears brimming in her eyes.</p><p>"I am so sorry, my dearest one, but I am forced to agree with Ben. Leia will not thank us for rescuing her if it means that Alderaan is destroyed."</p><p>The woman's eyebrows drew down. "You would leave our daughter in the clutches of that monster?!"</p><p>"The <em>entire world </em>is at stake, Breha!"</p><p>She snatched her hands from her husband's and stormed away, her back rigid, entering the tower through the decorated door.</p><p>"She's just upset," Bail sighed. "But I know her. She will do her duty. We can leave Alderaan in her capable hands. Is... this your ship, Doctor? It's rather small. How did you all fit?"</p><p>Ben clapped him on the shoulder. "Old friend, you're in for a surprise."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Trash Compactor</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rose often felt vulnerable when the Doctor wasn't with her, but right now she was glad she was with Ben. He was the one who was most likely to be able to control her if she had another outburst. She, he, and Luke were standing thigh-deep in filthy water surrounded by pieces of junk in a dimly lit, metal-walled room. It smelt disgusting.</p><p>"Did the Doctor <em>have </em>to drop us off <em>here?" </em>Rose complained, lifting one foot out of the water to find slime hanging off her shoe.</p><p>After dropping off Bail and the droids at the rebel base, and depositing Rose and her two companions in Death Star, the Doctor had taken the TARDIS back to Alderaan to help with evacuations.</p><p>"At least there are no storm troopers here," Ben said, wading through the mucky water to the door. "I think this is a trash compactor."</p><p>"Trash <em>compactor?" </em>Rose asked. "We're not gonna get compacted are we?"</p><p>"I sincerely hope not. I'll try to get this door open."</p><p>Luke suddenly let out a piercing shriek. "Something just moved past my leg!"</p><p>"A piece of trash?" Rose asked.</p><p>"No, there's something alive in here."</p><p>Rose backed away from Luke's position nervously.</p><p>"I can't sense anything," Ben called, "but that doesn't mean there's nothing there, just that it isn't powerful enough to create a disturbance in the Force."</p><p>A tentacle whipped out of the murky water and seized Luke's ankle, yanking him under the water. He disappeared without a sound.</p><p>"Luke!" Rose screamed. On instinct she grabbed her lightsaber, but before she could activate it Ben shouted, "no! If you use that you'll kill Luke too!" He splashed through the water towards her, pulling a heavy black gun from his belt.</p><p>The urge to destroy whatever had attacked Luke whirled around in the pit of Rose's stomach. With a great deal of willpower, she forced her hand down, returned her lightsaber to the waistband of her jeans. The water around her began to tremble, ripples spreading outward from where she stood motionless.</p><p>"Rose," Ben said, warning in his voice.</p><p>"I can't... make it stop..." Rose growled through clenched teeth. She tensed every muscle in her body, trying to push the Force energy down, contain it within herself. A whirlpool began to form in the water around her.</p><p>"Rose, you can't control the Force with force. You have to relax. Turn away, close your eyes and <em>breathe."</em></p><p>Rose did as she was told. Her breath was coming fast and hard. She slowed it down, tried to relax her muscles one by one, still the shaking of her body. The whirlpool slowed, stilled. She'd almost gotten herself under control when she heard splashing, spluttering, Luke shouting.</p><p><em>I have to help Luke! </em>She thought, and right away the whirlpool began to form once again. <em>No!</em></p><p>She could hear laser sounds. She clapped her hands over her ears, tried to ignore Luke's danger. She couldn't help him if she just lost control and killed him in the attempt.</p><p>Slowly, slowly, by counting her breaths and ignoring everything else, she let the Force energy die down until she was herself again.</p><p>She jumped at a touch on her shoulder, and turned around to find a smiling Ben and a bedraggled but unharmed Luke.</p><p>"Well done, Rose," Ben said. "You controlled yourself."</p><p>"Are you okay?" Rose asked Luke.</p><p>He grinned and nodded.</p><p>"What happened?"</p><p>"I dunno. The monster just disappeared."</p><p>A sudden, ominous sound echoed around the small room, like the screech of metal on metal.</p><p>"I have a bad feeling about this..." Luke said.</p><p>With a jolt that shook the floor, the walls began moving in.</p><p>"Ben," Rose cried, "we're gonna get compacted if you don't get that door open!"</p><p>"I've tried, it's magnetically sealed!"</p><p>Rose scrambled on top of the piles of rubbish so that they wouldn't crush her legs, slipping and stumbling.</p><p>"Ben, use the Force!" Luke shouted.</p><p>"I'm not powerful enough," Ben panted, struggling to keep his footing. "Rose. You have to do it."</p><p>"What?!"</p><p>"You're the only one powerful enough to open that door."</p><p>"It's just a door, surely you can do it?"</p><p>"It's a magnetically sealed door; without the passkey you'd have to blast the thing off its hinges to get it open. And using the Force for brute strength was never my speciality."</p><p>"Great," Rose muttered, clambering on all fours now up the ever-steepening, ever-narrowing pile of trash. "I get trapped in a trash compactor with the one Jedi who can't use his telekinetic abilities to just blast things."</p><p>"Rose!" Ben shouted, "you have to do it now!"</p><p>"I don't know <em>how!"</em></p><p>"Just let go of your control. Let it happen. The power is within you."</p><p>Rose groaned and pulled herself to her feet, widening her stance to keep balance. She tried pointing at the door, but where the power had come so easily before, now that she was consciously trying to summon it she felt nothing. She tried breathing fast and tensing her muscles, but despite the imminent danger she didn't feel the same aggression as before.</p><p>The walls were closing in. Luke heaved up a huge metal pipe and braced it between the walls, trying to hold them apart. They juddered and groaned, and the pipe began to bend.</p><p>"Do something!" Luke screeched.</p><p>Ben marched over to Rose and slapped her full across the face.</p><p>For a moment she was just shocked. Then the pain came, and with it, rage. She saw a flash of white, and a wave of heat followed by cold travelled up her spine. She closed her eyes, and let go of all resistance, allowed the anger to take full control.</p><p>
  <b>When the Bad Wolf opened her eyes, her power was back, and she was glad. Pieces of trash lifted from the piles of junk and floated around her, spinning faster, faster, faster. She glared at the old man.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>"You dare raise a hand to me..."</b>
</p><p>
  <b>"The door, Rose, direct your power at the door!" He dared to command her.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>"Why should I, when I can crush you like a bug instead?" She reached out her hand, and the old man's arms were instantly pinned to his side. She lifted him up off the floor. He struggled to breathe as she squeezed his rib cage.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>"Rose, <em>you'll </em>be killed the same as us if you don't open the door!" The insignificant farm boy shouted.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>The walls were still closing in, the farm boy scrambling to get out of the way of the compacting piles of trash. One wall bumped into the Bad Wolf's shoulder and with a snarl of irritation she released the old man, throwing her arms out to either side instead, shoving the walls away with a piercing screech of tearing metal. The machinery clanked, groaned, and died.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>The old man was on his knees, clutching his ribs. The farm boy ran to him.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>"Rose, please..." Luke begged. "Remember how you felt when you hurt the Doctor."</b>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Doctor... I want you safe. My Doctor.</em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <b>The Bad Wolf blinked. Her purpose was not to destroy. It was to save the Doctor. She had destroyed the Daleks, but not for the sake of destruction itself. Always her power had been intended to protect those she loved.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>"Get out of my way," the Bad Wolf ordered, her voice echoing around the room. Luke grabbed Ben and dragged him behind her, his legs training through the filthy water. She focused on the door, channelling her rage towards it. It was keeping her trapped in this room. It was keeping her from destroying the Death Star. The Death Star that was currently travelling towards the planet her Doctor was on.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>She threw both hands before her with a furious shout, and a shock wave of power hurtled out of her body. With an enormous crash the door was splintered from its frame and hurled into the opposite wall of the corridor beyond.</b>
</p><p>Rose sighed and sagged against the wall, exhausted. "Ben? Are you alright?" She turned her head to find him standing upright, dusting himself off.</p><p>"I might be older than the Doctor," he chuckled, "but I am a trained Jedi Master. A little force attack isn't going to hurt me." He walked over to Rose and put a hand on her shoulder. "You did well, my young padawan."</p><p>Rose glowed at the praise, heat rising to her cheeks. "Actually," she chuckled, "I'd be very surprised if you were older than the Doctor."</p><p>She expected Ben to be confused, but his expression didn't change. He was staring at the gaping hole left by the door Rose had destroyed. She followed his gaze.</p><p>The cloud of dust kicked up by her destruction was dissipating. A crowd of shadows was coalescing into view.</p><p>"Storm troopers," Luke hissed.</p><p>"Oh, I sense something worse," Ben replied, and Rose shivered at the fatality in his voice.</p><p>The last of the dust cleared. A semi circle of storm troopers were gathered around the broken doorway, pointing guns at Rose and her companions. And within the semi circle was a tall figure all in black, with a terrifying black mask. She could hear his rasping, mechanical breathing from where she stood.</p><p>"I thought I sensed your presence," he said, his voice deep and resonating and robotic. "Obi-Wan Kenobi. We meet again, my old master."</p><p>Rose couldn't tell whether this being was machine or man.</p><p>Ben took a few steps forward, putting himself between Rose and Luke and the black figure.</p><p>"Yes, we meet again," he said with surprising calmness. "Darth Vader."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Vader</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Every Force-sensitive individual had a unique signature in the Force. Vader hadn't encountered Obi-Wan in a long, long time, but nevertheless he'd recognized his signature as soon as he'd felt it. Now, standing before the Jedi, he had to fight down nostalgia and grief over what his life had once been, what it could have been, and the ruins of their friendship.</p><p>Angrily, he wrestled his feelings under control, as Obi-Wan had taught him to do long ago. He didn't have time nor space in his heart for longing.</p><p>"The circle is now complete," he said, forcing all of his age-old bitterness into his voice. "When I left you I was but the learner, now I am the master."</p><p>"Only a master of evil, Darth," Obi-Wan snarled.</p><p>In response Vader activated his lightsaber, his eternal rage renewed as the bloody blade materialized.</p><p>There were two others with Obi-Wan, hovering uncertainly in the background. One was massively powerful, unlike anything Vader had ever sensed before. He had to take that one alive. The Emperor would want her. He couldn't get much of a read on the other; his Force signature was there, so Vader knew he had some power, but he couldn't really <em>taste </em>it behind the flavours of Obi-Wan and the girl.</p><p>Obi-Wan held out his hand and his lightsaber flew from the girl's hip. He caught it and ignited it in one smooth movement, the ice-coloured blade sparking against the floor.</p><p>"Training her, are you?" Vader taunted. "Don't forget what happened to your last padawan."</p><p>"You won't goad me into anger," Obi-Wan said, stepping forward. "Unlike the Sith, I reject rage." He lifted his weapon, drawing it back for the first swing. Vader took a defensive posture, blade ready to block Obi-Wan's blow.</p><p>"No!" A tenor voice cried, and Obi-Wan's other companion, a boy bordering on adulthood, ran forward to grab his arm. "Please, don't kill him!"</p><p>Vader would have gasped if it weren't for the machine controlling his breathing. He was glad of the mask hiding his face. This boy <em>was his son. </em>Now that his signature was separated from the girl's, no longer eclipsed by its power, he could feel it. And the boy was strong, too. More powerful than Obi-Wan by far.</p><p>He didn't carry himself as though he knew it, and nor did the girl. They were very new padawan learners. Not yet converted from raw power into limited light side Jedi.</p><p><em>Good. </em>If Vader could wrestle control of them away from Obi-Wan, train them himself, they would make powerful allies. And he would be able to train his own son. Surely that's what Padme would have wanted, had Obi-Wan not turned her against him on that fateful day.</p><p><em>Padme. </em>What was left of Vader's heart ached, and he lowered his blade a little.</p><p>"He's not your father anymore, Luke," Obi-Wan said, pushing the boy away. "Anakin is gone."</p><p>Vader tightened his grip on his lightsaber hilt. As much as he would have liked to rend the master that had failed him limb from limb, he had to use control. He had to take all three of them alive, or risk alienating the youngsters.</p><p>"All I want," he said, "is order. Surrender now, and no one need be harmed."</p><p>His son's eyes lit up with hope.</p><p>"No!" Obi-Wan shouted, "there can never be peace with the Sith!" He brought his lightsaber flashing down, and Vader blocked it easily. Their blades met, crackling and sparking like thunder and lightning.</p><p>"Please stop!" Luke shouted.</p><p>Vader parried Obi-Wan's next thrust and pinned him against the wall, pushing his own lightsaber down towards him. "Listen to the kid," he sneered. "You don't want to kill his own father in front of him, do you?"</p><p>Obi-Wan twisted free and scoured a line along Vader's arm with the tip of his blade, the metal smoking. "I wouldn't be killing his father," he hissed. "Anakin is dead! You're nothing but a hollow shell."</p><p>Vader roared and charged him, bringing his blade down with all the force he could muster, strike after strike fueled by savage fury. Obi-Wan was on the defensive, being forced back step by step. Vader's soldiers moved from their formation to make way for Obi-Wan. He'd ordered them to not interfere until he told them to. This confrontation was <em>his.</em></p><p>Obi-Wan was rapidly growing tired, his breathing ragged. Strength with the Force didn't always fade with age, but Obi-Wan was clearly out of practice. Vader smiled behind his mask, knowing that victory was his. He had to admit, he was impressed that Obi-Wan still looked so calm. There wasn't a hint of panic in the old fool's eyes.</p><p>"I said <em>stop!"</em></p><p>Vader had to whirl towards Luke to block a shot from his blaster. The laser bolt ricocheted into the metal corridor wall. His son was glaring at him through fierce lightsaber-blue eyes.</p><p>"I did not start this fight, son," Vader said. "Your precious master did."</p><p>The girl strode forward to stand by Luke's side. "No," she snapped, "you started it when you turned to evil and betrayed Ben."</p><p>"Ben?" Vader snorted, turning back towards Obi-Wan. "So you took a fake name? You've been hiding, in fear of the Empire all these years? Pathetic."</p><p>"I haven't been hiding," Ben said, "I've been protecting your son!"</p><p>He was panting and drenched in sweat, but he attacked nevertheless. Vader rotated his blade around Obi-Wan's, tearing the hilt out of the Jedi's grasp. The lightsaber deactivated and went spinning away across the polished linoleum floor.</p><p>"Luke told you to <b>stop!"</b></p><p>A sudden blast of power sent both Vader and Obi-Wan flying in opposite directions. Vader used the Force to land gracefully, but Obi-Wan's head cracked against the wall and he slumped to the ground, unconscious.</p><p>"Thanks for the help, little girl," Vader said, turning to face Luke and the girl. Luke was backing away from her. Her eyes were glowing with a radiant yellow light. Her hair floated as though she were underwater. Sparks of lightning flared at her fingertips.</p><p>"Well well," Vader purred, "someone tends towards the dark side. That could be <em>very </em>useful for me."</p><p><b>"I am not for you to use," </b>she said in a deep, reverberating voice that sounded like multiple voices layered together. Then she <em>threw </em>the Force at him. Vader stepped nimbly out of the way, and the ground behind him cracked and splintered, a handful of storm troopers launched away across the corridor.</p><p>The girl hissed like a cat and launched another blast at him. She wielded the Force as though it were heavy, as though she had to physically throw it. It was obvious that she'd had no training. She flailed her arms about like an amateur, telegraphing every move so that Vader always knew what she was about to do.</p><p>Her power was nothing to be trifled with, though. Her attacks were slow and predictable, but awesomely destructive. Vader dodged side to side, the Force blasts sailing past him to gouge huge craters out of the floor, ceiling, walls.</p><p>"Enough!" He finally snapped, growing impatient. He reached out towards her and pinned her arms to her sides, lifted her and brought her forward to hover before him. She snarled and snapped like a feral child, struggling in his grasp. He could feel her power raging about them, cracking the walls. She could easily have overpowered him if she'd known how to apply her power, but she didn't.</p><p>"I'm going to enjoy training you," he whispered. He used the Force to press down on her windpipe. She thrashed, and the entire space station trembled in her fury... but gradually she weakened, her power fading, the yellow glow in her eyes going out. At last she fell unconscious, and Vader gently laid her down to sleep on the floor.</p><p>"Take these two," he ordered the handful of storm troopers still on their feet, "and lock them in separate prison cells. I will deal with the boy myself."</p><p>Luke appeared at the words, poking his head out from the trash compactor. He peered around uncertainly, but when he saw that the girl was unconscious an expression of mingled anguish and relief appeared on his face and he emerged fully.</p><p>He glared at Vader, taking his lightsaber from his belt.</p><p>"There'll be no need for that," Vader said, extinguishing his own blade.</p><p>"I won't let them imprison my friends!" Luke snapped, pointing at the storm troopers who were starting to drag the girl and Obi-Wan away.</p><p>"Son," Vader said gently, approaching Luke as though he were a frightened animal, "there are two sides to every story. Didn't you see how your master kept attacking me even when I asked for peace? He needs to be locked up for my own safety."</p><p>He could sense the conflict and confusion in the boy. Tears shone in his eyes. "But what about Rose?"</p><p>"The girl? She's dangerously powerful and uncontrolled. Surely you realize that."</p><p>"It's not her fault!"</p><p>"No, of course it isn't. I'm not going to hurt her. I'm locking her up for her own safety as well as ours. You can visit her as often as you like, and as soon as I think she has the control necessary to not kill us all when she gets angry, I'll free her. I promise." He reached a hand out towards Luke, and half of his next words were true. "Luke. The day I found out that your mother was pregnant was the happiest of my life. And the day that you and her were taken from me was the worst. I am sorry that I was not there for you while you were growing up. Obi-Wan kept you hidden away from me. But I can be here for you now. I am not the monster you think I am. All I ask is that you hear my side of the story - and then, if you would still rather side with Obi-Wan, I will let you and your friends go. I would never harm my own son."</p><p>Luke hesitated, suspicion in his eyes. But there was hope there, too, in the pale blue. He reached out and grasped Vader's hand with his own.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Vader's Plea</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A summary of the prequels, told from Darth Vader's point of view as he reveals his backstory to Luke in an attempt to win over his son's sympathy and trust.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tattooine. A desert world. Twin suns burning all the moisture from the air. A dead, harsh environment. Run by gangs and criminals. You grew up there, Luke, you know what it's like. I was born there, into slavery. I was a possession, an object for the first ten years of my life.</p><p>My first owner was Gardulla, a Hutt crime Lord. She was a cruel mistress. She used to beat me while my mother watched, to punish her for simple mistakes. My first memories are of violence. Eventually she lost my mother and I to a new master, Watto, in a bet. He was kinder, and even had some affection for me, but I was still just a possession to him. The only person who truly cared about me was my mother.</p><p>Elitists like Obi-Wan claim that the Republic was better than the Empire, that it fostered perfect peace and prosperity. But though they outlawed slavery they never enforced it. So long as the Jedi temples were prosperous, no one cared what happened on a backwater world like Tattooine. The Republic was no kinder to its citizens than the Empire. It was just less honest about its failings.</p><p>When I was ten years old a Jedi ship carrying an important diplomatic passenger, Queen Amidala, landed on Tattooine. The Queen, disguised as her own hand maiden, came to Mos Espa along with a Jedi master and his padawan, a young man almost ready to become a master himself - Obi Wan. I met them and helped them out of the goodness of my heart, as did Shmi - ah, I see that you have heard the name. </p><p>I thought that Padme, the disguised Queen, was the most beautiful person I had ever seen. I still do.</p><p>I thought the Jedi were there to free the slaves, but they weren't. They never even told the Jedi council about the rampant slavery on Tattooine when they got back to their precious inner systems. They just left the outer rim to rot, and left Shmi, an innocent woman, in illegal slavery. They snatched me away from her and brain washed me into the Jedi order. They would say they gave me a choice, but what choice is there when one of the options is a lifetime of slavery?</p><p>They could have freed my mother. They were Jedi knights, they could easily have whisked her away and been gone before the Hutts could interfere. But that would have interfered with my training. Padawans aren't supposed to see their parents. Jedi aren't supposed to have attachments. They aren't supposed to have loved ones.</p><p>The man who advocated for training me was killed in combat just days after uplifting me from my home. His older padawan, an inexperienced, newly made master who hadn't supported the idea of training me in the first place, inherited me. I had been passed along to yet another owner.</p><p>I excelled in Jedi training, far surpassing my master by the time I was a teenager. In his jealously, Obi-Wan held me back. He wouldn't allow me to advance or to have any independence. He wouldn't allow me to face the trials required to achieve the rank of master. He forced me to remain his obedient little pet padawan.</p><p>I thought I was doing good, fighting for the Jedi. They taught me a code of conduct and I followed it religiously. I always tried to do what I thought was the right thing.</p><p>I began to have nightmares about my mother being kidnapped and tortured by the sand people. I tried to tell my master but he ignored me, told me to suppress my emotions. That was what he always told me when I tried to open up to him. I was made to feel ashamed for having feelings. But I couldn't make them go away, so I did my best to keep them from showing, and I learned not to trust the Jedi.</p><p>If the council had abolished slavery before my mother was sold to the moisture farm from which she was kidnapped, she might have lived a peaceful life to a ripe old age. If Obi-Wan had listened to me about my nightmares Shmi could have been saved. If I had been allowed to progress at my natural learning pace I would have been a master by then and would have had the independence to save my mother. As it was, by the time I was able to get to Tattooine... it was too late.</p><p>I found my mother, beaten and abused, in a Tuskan raiders' camp. It was night, and the heat had evaporated from the desert. The smoky campfires provided light and warmth for the sand people clustered around them, but my mother had been left alone in the tent of the man who owned her, shivering from the cold, cruelly tied to a stick. The tent smelt of blood, and sweat, and the dank rot of poorly cured animal skins. I could hear the guttural language of the sand people outside, and the weak moaning of my mother. She was in pain, and I knew from my dreams that she had been suffering for a long time. </p><p>I untied her bonds and pulled her frail body into my arms. Her skin was marked with lacerations and bruises. She was so weak she could barely move, and her voice was a rasp. She had just enough strength left to caress my cheek and tell me she loved me before she died. Her body was limp and cold in my arms.</p><p>Just as they had never tried to help her, the Jedi and the Republic, the supposed keepers of the peace, never sought justice for the brutal treatment that poor, kind Shmi Skywalker had received.</p><p>My revenge was my first transgression from the light side. I killed the ones who had tortured my mother to death. Can you really blame me for that? Your own mother is dead, Luke. What would you not give to bring her back, to be able to meet her?</p><p>Afterwards, I felt awful about what I'd done. I confided in my close friend, Padme. We had by this point fallen in love with one another. Love was forbidden in the Jedi order. Something as natural to humans as breathing and those blind fools ban it and expect people to be able to exist as empty, emotionless shells. I tried to confide in Obi-Wan about my feelings, hoping he would teach me how to deal with the conflict inside myself, but he just told me once again to suppress my feelings and ignored my concerns.</p><p>I couldn't help being in love. How could I not love your mother? She was a beautiful, brilliant, amazing woman. We were married in secret at Padme's childhood home on Naboo. Such a beautiful place. A mansion of delicate stone architecture with curling carvings and embellishments. Sprawling, fragrant gardens. A tranquil lake surrounding the island. It was a peaceful, happy time.</p><p>It wasn't long before she fell pregnant. I meant what I told you earlier, my dear son. The day I discovered that you had been conceived was the very best day of my entire life. We were anxious, because if anyone discovered that I was the father I would be expelled from the Jedi order and Padme would probably lose her position as senator, but we were delighted nevertheless. I could hardly contain my joy, or my love - for Padme and for you.</p><p>And then my nightmares returned. This time, they were of Padme. I dreamt of her dying in childbirth. I went to the leader of the Jedi Order, Master Yoda. I told him about my dreams. And do you know what he told me? He told me to let go. To stop caring. He wanted me to let Padme die. That's what your precious Jedi, your precious Obi-Wan, believe in. Protecting the balance at all costs, even when the world the balance wants is awful. Even when it means losing the ones you love. Let go? How could I let go of love? How could I let your mother die, and risk your own life in the process? I would have burned countless galaxies to save Padme, and I would do the same for you.</p><p>My close friend and mentor, Chancellor Palpatine, offered me hope. He told me of secret abilities discovered by Darth Plagueis the White. A dark side ability - creating life itself, keeping loved ones from dying. Yoda must have known about this possibility when I went to him with my concerns, but he intentionally kept it from me. I thought I could save your mother by learning about the dark side. I never intended to hurt anyone.</p><p>Despite the transgression of love I was still trying to follow the Jedi code. But the Jedi often went against their own code. I was given a secret mission to spy on Palpatine. Not only was this morally repugnant in a personal way - to spy on my trusted mentor - but it was against the Jedi code, and in fact, was treason. Obi-Wan himself gave me the hateful mission. The man who had taught me ethics asked me to ignore right and wrong.</p><p>Later Mace Windu himself, one of the oldest and wisest of the Jedi, tried to kill a prisoner in cold blood. Jedi code demanded a fair trial for anyone who surrendered, but Windu didn't intend to honour that. And the prisoner he wanted to kill? Palpatine, the only one who could save sweet Padme. I stopped him, and as a result of my interference Palpatine killed him.</p><p>And that was it. My soul was lost. What could I do, son? What choice did I have? Merely by protecting a prisoner of war who deserved a fair trial, along with <em>the woman I loved more than anything, </em>I was now guilty of betraying the Jedi Order. There was no turning back. If I had, Padme would have died in childbirth and I'd have been locked in irons, never to see her or my child again.</p><p>I know now that Padme died anyway, but at the time I didn't think that's what would happen. I thought I could learn just enough about the dark side to save Padme, and then she and I would join forces to overthrow the Emperor <em>and </em>the Jedi. We would have been benevolent leaders, would have ruled the Galaxy with peace and love. I would have freed the slaves. And I would have created a Grey Jedi Order - less arrogant, more open minded, learning about both the light side and the dark, using all powers at its disposal to protect the innocent. And we would have raised you as the heir to the throne.</p><p>Things didn't turn out as planned. But how is that my fault? It was Obi-Wan who prevented me from saving Padme. He mortally wounded me, stopped me from getting to her when she needed me most. I just wanted to save my loved ones, Luke. And once I'd gone too far I couldn't turn back. I know I must seem a monster to you. Maybe I even look like a monster, look... inhuman, robotic. But do you know why I have to wear this suit? Because Obi-Wan Kenobi cut me down with his lightsaber and left me to burn slowly to death. And then he let my wife die and he took my baby away from me. The Emperor rescued me from a lava flow and designed this suit to save my life. But I wasn't really saved.</p><p>From the moment I breathed my first robotic breath my life was hell. I learned that my wife was dead and my baby was gone. I've been in torment ever since. Oh, the anguish of losing Padme was bad enough, but losing you? I had no way of knowing what had happened to you. Obi-Wan could have slaughtered you out of fear of your dark side heritage for all I knew. I've been looking for you ever since, but Obi-Wan kept you hidden away. I've been wishing that he had just put me out of my misery ever since I woke up inside this suit... Until today. Because today I've found <em>you.</em></p><p>The light side and the dark side are not opposites, Luke. They're just different types of power, both of which can be used for any purpose. I don't want to destroy the galaxy, I want to bring it order - a strong ruling class that will last for aeons, a stable regime, an end to war. The Jedi were hypocrites and the Republic was a lie. I know the Empire is unpopular, but a strong hand is what the galaxy needs right now, after centuries of corruption.</p><p>So, Luke. Now that you've heard my side of the story, what do you think? Can you bear to accept me as your father? Will you allow me to make up for all the time we've lost? I know that the Emperor is evil, but if we work together we can overthrow him! Will you join me?</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So, the Vader of the original trilogy would probably never have spoken to Luke in this way. During Return of the Jedi he just seems defeated as he tells Luke there is no hope for him. But I feel like the Vader of the prequels and the Vader of the originals don't quite line up - the Vader of the prequels tells Padme that he's strong enough to overthrow the Emperor, and he seems like more than just Palpatine's minion (even if Palpatine manipulated him far more than he realised). Although the originals are my favourite movies, I really enjoy the story of Anakin's tragic fall to the dark side in the prequels, so have based my Vader more on dark side Anakin than on original Vader.</p><p>Also, sorry to my readers who are predominantly Doctor Who fans, I know this chapter is purely Star Wars. If you can hang on just a bit longer I promise that the chapter after the next one will have Rose as the main character again :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Vader's Children</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Luke had sat on the edge of his seat, his eyes never leaving Vader's face as Vader had shared his story. The boy's face had been creased with concern and anguish throughout. His ice-blue eyes glowed with an echo of Vader's pain. He actually <em>cared </em>about Vader, in a way no one had done for decades. Vader had to crush the warmth spreading through him at the thought. He couldn't afford to become sentimental. He needed Luke to join him, not the other way around.</p><p>The two of them were seated in Vader's private chambers. They were sparsely decorated - just a couple of metal chairs a storm trooper had delivered at Vader's request, a desk strewn with orders from the Emperor and reports from subordinates, and an enormous healing tank that served as Vader's sleeping place. The metal walls were bare, the floor cold. Vader didn't seek comfort.</p><p>He and his son sat facing each other, about a metre apart.</p><p>"I think..." Luke whispered, and then he swallowed nervously. "Yes."</p><p>"Yes?"</p><p>"Yes, I will join you, if you truly intend to overthrow the Emperor."</p><p>Vader's heart thudded. "I am greatly pleased, Luke. Together we will be a force unlike anything the galaxy has seen."</p><p>"But you have to spare Alderaan."</p><p>Vader's right hand curled into a fist. "How do you know of this space station's destination?"</p><p>"So you <em>are </em>planning to destroy it!"</p><p>Vader forced himself to relax, unclenching his fist. It wouldn't do to alienate the boy.</p><p>"Of course not. We have a citizen of Alderaan aboard who is keeping vital information from us. We had planned to threaten her home world, but it was only to be a bluff."</p><p>Luke's eyes narrowed. "I don't believe you."</p><p>Vader leaned forward. "You are strong with the Force, Luke. Search your feelings. If I intended to destroy Alderaan, you would be able to see it." When he didn't tell him was that the presence of the dark side clouded a Jedi's ability to see premonitions. Luke would never be able to clearly see Vader's intentions.</p><p>"My friend saw what you're planning to do," Luke growled. "That's why we came to the Death Star. We sensed Alderaan's danger. Father, you can't destroy an entire planet, a peaceful planet! Please!"</p><p>Vader's heart lifted as his son called him Father for the first time.</p><p>"Luke, I have no intention of destroying an entire planet. However your friends may have sensed the intentions of Grand Moff Tarkin, the man officially in charge of this space station. If it would soothe your concerns, I will speak with him about the matter, and extract his promise that he won't destroy Alderaan."</p><p>Luke's shoulder sagged as he sighed, the tension leaving his body. "That would make me feel a lot better. Thank you."</p><p>"You don't need to worry. We still have many hours before Alderaan is in range. Plenty of time for me to bring Tarkin into line. So for now, why don't you tell me about your childhood? About all that I have missed."</p><p>"Aren't we missing someone? What about Leia?"</p><p>"Princess Leia? Why do you want her?"</p><p>Luke's eyes widened. "You... You don't know, do you? Oh, of course you don't! When you were telling me your story you always said <em>baby, </em>not <em>babies."</em></p><p>Vader's heart skipped a beat. "Son..."</p><p>"Father, Padme had twins."</p><p>And in an instant Vader understood. "Leia is your sister." He kept his voice level and controlled, internalising his reaction to the information. He had planned to torture Leia for information on the location of the rebel base.</p><p>"Leia is your daughter," Luke said softly.</p><p>If Luke had arrived on the Death Star any later, he would have tortured his own daughter.</p><p>"She hates me," Vader said bluntly. "She is a leader of the rebel alliance. She will never be able to see my side of the story the way you have."</p><p>"Let me speak to her," Luke begged. "I can convince her to see that you're not evil like the Emperor, I'm sure I can."</p><p>Vader nodded slowly. "Yes. I think that might be best."</p><p>"And Obi-Wan," Luke said, "she trusts him. She is more likely to accept that I am her sister if he confirms it."</p><p>"You mean she doesn't know?"</p><p>"I didn't even know until today. Obi-Wan told me about my sister this morning."</p><p><em>Ah, excellent. </em>A long-held secret like that was sure to breed resentment, and Vader detected a flash of anger in Luke's eyes.</p><p>"My poor children, kept apart by a foolish plot to protect them from their own father. I would never have harmed either of you. I would have had the strength to overthrow the Emperor long ago if I'd had the two of you by my side. I wouldn't have been broken and defeated all these years..."</p><p>Luke let out a little whine of concern.</p><p>Vader pondered the best order to do things in. Would it be good to allow Luke to speak to Obi-Wan again? On the one hand, if Obi-Wan continued to be aggressive towards Vader it would help Vader's case. On the other hand, Vader didn't want Obi-Wan contradicting his own version of his back story, although he could just say he was lying if he did.</p><p>And now he wanted to win over Leia as well. Perhaps Luke's suggestion was best. Obi-Wan would be able to convince Leia that Luke was her brother, and then Luke would be able to convince her to see Vader's point of view. Luke clearly had sympathy for Vader's backstory. He was a gullible child. Once Vader had fully earned his trust it would be so easy to turn him to the dark side. Just twist a few truths, convince him it's all for the greater good...</p><p>Vader rose and went to the door, making a show of turning his back to Luke, displaying trust. In secrecy he kept his Force senses tightly focused on him. He'd be able to detect the slightest movement. Luke still had a lightsaber hanging from his belt, after all. It wouldn't do to grow complacent.</p><p>He pressed a button to unlock the door, which slid open. Two storm troopers were standing guard outside. Vader ordered them to bring him Obi-Wan and Leia, and then he returned to the chair before Luke's, the door sliding shut behind him.</p><p>"So tell me," Vader said, "how did you find the Death Star? A Jedi's senses are not normally so precise."</p><p>"Scanning technology," Luke said vaguely.</p><p>"What sort of scanning technology?"</p><p>"I don't know. I just came because I wanted to meet my sister. I haven't been paying much attention to the technology side of things."</p><p>"There's something you're not telling me."</p><p>"I'm sure there are plenty of things you aren't telling me."</p><p>Vader couldn't help but smile behind his mask. The boy wasn't as daft as he seemed.</p><p>"Fair point, Luke. We may be father and son but we've only just met. Trust will take time to build. You must understand the position I am in, though." He leaned forward and lowered his robotic voice's volume to a confidential level, drawing Luke in. "I plan to betray the Emperor. If I move the fleet against his orders and he has scanning technology I am unaware of - copied from rebel tech, perhaps - we will lose the element of surprise."</p><p>Luke had unconsciously leaned forward to mimic his father's posture. "Don't worry," he whispered, "the scanning tech used to find the Death Star only exists on one ship, and only one man knows anything about it. There's no way for the Emperor to get that technology."</p><p>So. Either the rebels had developed a top secret prototype, or they had a new ally. Either option was bad news, but Vader forced himself to lean back in his chair as though the information made him feel more relaxed. Luke did the same, the tension leaving his shoulders.</p><p>"Who raised you?" Vader asked softly.</p><p>"My Aunt and Uncle."</p><p>"Aunt and Uncle? Neither Padme nor I had siblings... ah. The children of the man who married my mother. Owen and Beru?"</p><p>Luke nodded.</p><p>"Why aren't you with them now?"</p><p>"Like I said, I wanted to meet Leia. I intend to go home once this is all over, though."</p><p>"You have more homes than you know," Vader said softly. "When the Emperor is defeated I will take his place on the throne, and you will be the Crown Prince of the Empire. You don't belong on a moisture farm, Luke. You belong in a palace, and you belong by my side."</p><p>"I don't belong to you," Luke said firmly. "But I don't belong on the moisture farm either, I agree with that... I love Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, though. I can't just leave them."</p><p>Vader was unsure how to react to that. Owen and Beru had done nothing to rescue Shmi when she'd been captured by sand people, and he hated them for that. But he couldn't let emotion rule him now. He had to be careful and calculating. How best to win Luke's loyalty? Tell him that Owen and Beru abandoned Shmi, turn him against them? No. If confronted with hard truths the boy would start to question things, and might uncover some awkward truths about Vader's own past. He had only told the boy what he wanted him to know. To keep Luke loyal and unquestioning he had to present a version of events the boy <em>wanted</em>to believe. If Vader could give the boy hope that all his loved ones could live together in peace, and then Owen and Beru and Obi-Wan were the ones to take that hope away, Luke would return to his side willingly. Vader needed that.</p><p>"You need not leave your Aunt and Uncle," Vader promised. "Surely they cannot enjoy the hard life they have on Tattooine. I can provide for them, give you and them a life of comfort and safety. I owe them that much. They have raised my son to be a fine young man. I sense greatness within you, Luke. The Force is strong with you."</p><p>Luke's chest puffed out a little at the praise, a hopeful smile spreading across his face.</p><p>There was a metallic rapping on the door and Luke's eyes brightened. "Is that Obi-Wan and Leia?"</p><p>
  <em>Yes, and Obi-Wan is here to take away your hopes of peaceful alliance. In </em>
  <em>his</em>
  <em> hatred of me he </em>
  <em>will</em>
  <em> play along with </em>
  <em>my</em>
  <em> portrayal of </em>
  <em>him</em>
  <em> perfectly.</em>
</p><p>"Enter," Vader called, and the door slid open. Two storm troopers marched in, pushing Obi-Wan and Leia before them. Their hands were cuffed behind their backs. Luke leapt up and ran to Obi-Wan, grabbing onto his arm. "Are you alright?"</p><p>"I am," he responded with infuriating calmness. There was bruising on the side of his head from where he had hit the wall, and his snowy hair was in disarray.</p><p>Leia was looking far more elegant. Despite the stress of being captured her white robe was neat and her hair was wound into two glossy buns with not a single stray strand. She had drawn herself up with as much dignity as she could muster and was glowering at Vader. "You had no right to invade my vessel!" she snapped. "We were on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan!"</p><p>Vader couldn't help but feel a touch of pride at his daughter's confidence in the face of the enemy.</p><p>"Uncuff them," he ordered the two storm troopers.</p><p>Once she was uncuffed Leia moved closer to Obi-Wan, rubbing her wrists. She and the old man stood close together, glaring at Vader. Luke glanced at his father uncertainly.</p><p>"Luke, Leia... I shall leave you to get acquainted. Obi-Wan will be able to introduce you to one another, I'm sure." Vader put as much judgement as he could into his voice, hoping Luke would feel resentful over being split up from his sister as a baby. "I shall return in a few hours. Refreshments will be sent during my absence." Cape sweeping behind him, he marched out of the room with the two storm troopers, locking the door behind him.</p><p>~~~</p><p>An hour later, Vader stood in front of the windowless door to Rose's cell, reaching out with his senses to the girl inside. Her power had faded away now, was hidden inside her, but the potential was still there.</p><p>The part of him that loved his children was more focused on bringing them to the dark side, but the part of him that yearned to control the galaxy wanted this magnificently powerful creature as his padawan.</p><p>If he was lucky, he would achieve at bringing all three to the dark side.</p><p>With his children he had to earn their trust first, and then nudge them along gradually, teach them to think of the greater good rather than the details.</p><p>But with Rose, whose power already tended towards the dark side, he would take a different approach. He could sense the darkness within her, almost like a split personality. If he could enrage and frighten her, sufficiently awaken her darker side until it took full control, she would be a formidable weapon. He didn't need to earn her trust because he didn't need to control her - he needed to <em>unleash </em>her. If Leia told him where the Rebel Base was he could simply send Rose there and watch her wreak havoc. Leia wouldn't be able to blame him for the destruction, because it would be her own ally who had done it. Oh, everything was playing out beautifully.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for your patience at the Star-Warsyness, Doctor Who fans. The next chapter will be Rose-focused, I promise :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Fear</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Warning: mild torture scene. Nothing too graphic (there's a needle but that's it).</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Hello?" Rose shouted through the solid metal of her cell door. "Is anyone there?" She huffed in frustration and kicked the door. "Guard, I'm ill! And you'll get in a lot of trouble if you let a valuable prisoner like me die!"</p><p>Silence, save for Rose's breathing, which echoed over loud in the small room.</p><p>She had woken up a couple of hours ago with a pounding head and a bruised throat, lying on a hard metal bench. Her cell was about three meters long and wide, and there wasn't even a window in the door. She felt isolated and claustrophobic.</p><p>Rose leaned her head against the cool metal of the door and groaned. She'd tried shouting for Obi-Wan and Luke, to no effect. She had no idea if they were in cells near hers, or even if they were alive. She couldn't remember much beyond escaping from the trash compactor. She knew that she'd lost her temper again. She hoped she hadn't hurt anyone.</p><p>Darth Vader had been there, she remembered that much. The thought of that imposing black robotic form made her shiver. She moved over to the bench and sat down, leaning back against the wall, pulling her knees up to her chest.</p><p>
  <em>Come on, Rose, pull it together. You've been captured before. You can get out of this.</em>
</p><p>A deep wave of dread filled her belly, making her nauseous, and for a moment Rose thought she subconsciously knew she couldn't escape. Then the door to her cell slid upwards and Vader stepped in. Rose, shrinking away from him, realised she'd only been sensing the presence of the dark side.</p><p>There was something else with him. A spherical black droid that hovered a metre off the ground, emitting an electronic humming noise. Rose's eyes widened. An enormous, needle-tipped syringe was attached to the droid like an arm. Vader stepped closer, the droid hovering beside him, and the cell door slid shut and locked with a click.</p><p>"Stay away from me!" Rose snapped, scrambling to the opposite corner of the room, putting as much distance between herself and Vader as possible.</p><p>"Or what?" Vader's voice was softer, quieter than the booming tone he'd used in the corridor, but Rose didn't feel any less threatened. More so, in fact, as though the intimacy of his voice was a violation.</p><p>"Or I'll kill you!" She spat. "You've seen what I can do."</p><p>"Yes." Vader leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms. "I've seen you hurl the Force about like a tantruming child. You are a novice. You have great power, but you don't know how to use it."</p><p>"What have you done with Ben and Luke?"</p><p>"I killed them."</p><p>Rose shook her head. "Liar."</p><p>"What makes you so sure I'm not telling the truth?"</p><p>"It feels like you're lying."</p><p>"Ah... so you have <em>some </em>control over the Force after all." Vader pushed himself away from the wall and took a step towards her. "Attack me."</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"I want you to learn to unleash your power at will. Attack me."</p><p>"Why would you want to train me?"</p><p>"Attack me or I'll hurt you."</p><p>Rose cringed against the wall. "Leave me alone!"</p><p>"Are you afraid of me?"</p><p>"Yes!"</p><p>"Good! Use that. If you want me to leave you alone, <em>make </em>me."</p><p>"I don't know how!" Rose wailed. "I can't control it!"</p><p>Vader sighed. "I had hoped that I wouldn't have to do this, but it seems it is necessary."</p><p>He looked down at the spherical droid hovering by his side, and it began to move forward.</p><p>Rose hissed, baring her teeth instinctively. The ground trembled.</p><p>"Good," Vader said. "Hold on to that emotion."</p><p>As the droid neared her Rose dodged past it and ran across the tiny room to another corner, trying to stay away from both Vader and the droid. It moved so slowly, she wouldn't have any difficulty avoiding it.</p><p>But then Rose found her arms pinned to her side and she was lifted up into the air. The room began moving around her - no, she was moving across the room, against her will. Back to the corner she had been in before, back to where the droid was. She was deposited onto the metal bench and then locked into place, sitting upright, her muscles refusing to obey her commands.</p><p>"Let me go!" Rose shrieked, trying her best to struggle against the Force holding her, but Vader was too strong.</p><p><em>No. He's not strong, </em>I'm <em>strong! Come on, Bad Wolf, help me...</em></p><p>But even though she was horrified by what was about to happen, Rose couldn't seem to enter that headspace of fury and power that would summon the Bad Wolf.</p><p>Rose hated needles. The dreaded thing drew closer, closer...</p><p>Where was the Doctor? He was always there to save her.</p><p>The humming of the droid's propulsion system was right next to her. Rose yelped as the needle pierced her skin. Her arm burned as the droid emptied the syringe's contents into her, and then it drew away and Vader released her.</p><p>She collapsed onto the bench, panting.</p><p>"What did you put in me?" She snarled.</p><p>"A mind altering drug. It heightens fear."</p><p>"What do you mean?"</p><p>"You're about to find out, any minute now..."</p><p>Rose pushed herself upright and glared at Vader. The droid had retreated, returning to his side. She tried to reach deep within herself for the Force, but still it eluded her.</p><p>Suddenly a wave of anxiety flowed over her. Her vision flickered. Sweat broke out on her forehead. A shiver ran down her spine and her breathing became laboured. Overcome by dread, Rose growled at her tormentor like an animal.</p><p>"Good. Now use it. Use your fear and strike me!"</p><p>Rose coiled up in the corner and didn't respond. Her breath came in frantic little pants. What was Vader going to do to her? Was he going to kill her?</p><p>"No!" Vader shouted. "I don't want you frightened and helpless, I want you frightened and angry!"</p><p>He drew his lightsaber and activated it. Rose flinched away from the baleful glow, the ominous buzzing. Underneath the hum of the lightsaber she could hear another sound, a familiar sound.</p><p>"Defend yourself!" Vader snapped, and he brought the saber swinging down towards her.</p><p>Rose dove off the bench and rolled onto the floor, the saber sparking as it melted through the bench she'd been curled on a moment ago.</p><p>"I said defend yourself!"</p><p>Rose scrambled across the floor. She wanted to get away from this violent creature. She wanted the Doctor. She wanted to be safe in the TARDIS.</p><p>That familiar sound grew closer, louder, and Rose's heart lifted. It was the TARDIS's engines! An unnatural wind began to blow about the cell.</p><p>"What are you doing?" Vader demanded. "What's that sound?"</p><p>The TARDIS began to materialise around Rose. She saw the ghostly image of the console, the walls, the <em>Doctor. </em>He was facing away from her, working the controls.</p><p>"What is this?" Vader snarled. He lifted his hand, aiming it towards the Doctor's ghostly form.</p><p><b>"No!" </b>The Bad Wolf shouted, and with an effortless wave of her hand she slammed him against the wall. <b>"You will not harm the Doctor!"</b></p><p>Then with a satisfying thud, the TARDIS finished materialising, its walls becoming opaque, sealing Rose and the Doctor off from Vader.</p><p>"Rose!" The Doctor took an excited step towards her, then paused. The Bad Wolf turned towards him, saw a smile fading from his face.</p><p>"Rose..." he said, more carefully. "It's alright. You can stop now."</p><p><b>"How can I let go of this?" </b>The Bad Wolf asked, glowing with power. <b>"I want you safe. My Doctor."</b></p><p>"We're in the TARDIS," the Doctor said, stepping closer. He had his hands in the air, palms out. His voice was reassuring. "We're safe here."</p><p><b>"Darth Vader is just outside those doors," </b>the Bad Wolf snarled, and the TARDIS shook with her anger, the cloister bell pealing urgently. <b>"He means us harm!"</b></p><p>The Doctor walked right up to her and put his arms about her. "It's alright now," he soothed. "Master of the dark side he might be, but he can't get through those doors. I promise."</p><p>Rose's shoulders sagged. She sighed, and felt her heart sinking, as though she were coming down from a high. As the anger melted out of her it was replaced by a deep, unnatural fear. Her heart started racing. Her stomach was a knotted ball. Her mouth was dry.</p><p>"We have to get out of here!" She gasped, and she lunged for the console.</p><p>"Woah, woah," the Doctor grabbed her and held her back, "let me fly, eh? We don't want to end up crashing into the void."</p><p>"Just get us away from the Death Star!" Rose cried in a shrill voice.</p><p>"Alright, alright." The Doctor released her and moved to the console. Rose sank to the ground, huddling on hands and knees. The floor grating dug into her hands. There was an echoing thud, and then the rhythmic screech of the engines as the TARDIS took off.</p><p>But Rose knew that Darth Vader would come after them. With his control of the Force he would be able to sense them wherever they went, and he would follow, and catch her again, and lock her up, and torture her. She didn't know why he wanted her to learn to unlock her power but she knew she'd never figure out how, and so he would never leave her in peace.</p><p>"Hey."</p><p>Rose sensed the Doctor kneeling next to her on the floor grating of the console room. She flinched as he placed a hand on her shoulder and buried her face in her arms.</p><p>"Are you alright?"</p><p>"No," she moaned. "We still aren't safe. Wherever we land, Vader will find us!"</p><p>"How about we get up off the floor, eh?" The Doctor helped her up and led her over to the battered white sofa, where they sat down side by side. Rose leaned against the Doctor's chest and started crying.</p><p>"What did he do to you?" The Doctor asked.</p><p>Rose shuddered at the thought of that terrifying robotic man, that terrifying needle. "I don't want to talk about it."</p><p>"You're safe now, Rose."</p><p>Rose shook her head. "We'll never be safe, never!" Her breathing started to spike again. She drew her knees up to her chest.</p><p>"Of course we're safe," the Doctor said firmly, "we're in the TARDIS. You're not thinking straight. You're having a panic attack. You need to breathe deeply."</p><p>"I can't!" Rose sobbed.</p><p>"Of course you can." The Doctor placed his hands on her shoulders. "Breathe with me, now." He took a slow, deep breath in, and a slow, deep breath out.</p><p>Rose tried to do the same.</p><p>It was a long, long time before she could calm down.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Hoth</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry it's been so long since my last update! I've been overwhelmed with study. I'll try to get back into updating every few days :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Nope."</p><p>A moment's exposure to the icy breath of Hoth was enough to send Rose scurrying back inside the TARDIS. The Doctor rolled his eyes and leaned against the side of his ship to wait. Humans were delicate creatures, and needed special coverings to withstand the cold. As a Time Lord the Doctor was, of course, much more robust.</p><p>He had been helping with evacuations when he had sensed Rose's terror, and at once his plans had changed. The TARDIS was far more effective at moving people quickly than the bulky merchant vessels of Alderaan, but he couldn't stay away while Rose was in trouble. The evacuation would be proceeding at a glacial pace without his help. They had no choice now. They had to destroy the Death Star, or almost the entire population of Alderaan would be wiped out.</p><p>The Doctor's breath fogged in the frosty air, obscuring his view of the ice world Hoth. Breha had given him the coordinates of Echo Base. He could see the domes of the heat-retaining buildings about a kilometre away. He could have landed the TARDIS closer, but he needed a walk.</p><p>The Doctor felt his nails biting into his palm and looked down, surprised to see his hands clenched into fists. Slowly, he relaxed them.</p><p>What had Vader done to Rose? Why had she had a panic attack for a full hour? The Doctor didn't want to know, and yet, he did. He could guess at what might have happened. And he would kill Vader for it. He swore that to himself.</p><p>The TARDIS door creaked open and Rose emerged, bundled up in pale faux fur.</p><p>"Better?" The Doctor asked.</p><p>"Much better, thanks." Rose grinned.</p><p>"Can you hear anything through that thing?"</p><p>"Pardon?"</p><p>The Doctor chuckled and raised his voice so that it would penetrate through the thick hood of Rose's snow jacket. "Come on! The base is this way!"</p><p>The rebels had chosen a very remote world to make their base on. It was a very beautiful world, too. From orbit the planet had been a swirling mix of blue and milky white. Here on the ground the whiteness was so blinding that the Doctor had to zap his reading glasses with his sonic screwdriver to darken the lenses. Powdery snow surrounded him and Rose, stretching away pristine and untouched to distant crystalline cliffs of ice. The setting sun burnished the sky gold, glowing against the cooler colours of the land beneath.</p><p>Beneath the sharp coldness in his nostrils the Doctor could detect the distinctive notes of fuel and the muskiness of mammal fur as he and Rose neared the base. He could hear the bleating of animals, the shouts of people and the occasional roar of an engine. Rose was quiet by his side, lost in thought. He took her hand and led her into the closest building, which was also the largest - he assumed it was a headquarters of some kind.</p><p>The building had a large gateway open at the front through which a large hangar bay could be accessed. As the Doctor and Rose entered, a couple of women in orange and white flight suits approached.</p><p>"Are you new?" One of them asked, looking the Doctor up and down. "I don't recognise you."<br/>"You'll have to go through security before you can see the rest of the base," the other said.</p><p>"We're new to Echo Base, but not to the Rebellion," the Doctor said. "We're friends of Bail Organa. Can you take us to him? We've got important news about the evacuation of Alderaan."</p><p>"I dunno..." the first woman said, glancing at the second. "Anyone could claim to be friends with Organa."<br/>"Only a rebel or citizen of Alderaan would know about the evacuation, though," the other said. "I'll take you to Prince Organa. Follow me." She turned and began marching across the hanger bay, and the Doctor and Rose hurried after her.</p><p>Rose yawned enormously, giving the Doctor the same urge. "Ugh. I could use a coffee!"<br/>"Me too, it's been a long day. We can't rest until Alderaan is safe, though."<br/>"Of course not."</p><p>As they moved away from the glare of the snow the Doctor removed his glasses, and as they passed through an insulation door into a warm hallway Rose sighed and removed her hood. "That's much better!"</p><p>The woman leading them wound through corridors until they reached another large room similar to the hangar bay. Rose shrugged off her jacket and tied it about her waist. It was much warmer this deep inside the building.</p><p>The lights were dim, reducing distraction from the presentation that was taking place in the centre of the room. Bail Organa was standing before a large projection of the Death Star plans, discussing his plan of attack. Approximately fifty pilots in flight suits were in attendance, as well as a few people in civilian clothing, and R2D2 and C3PO.</p><p>"Those two droids can verify us," the Doctor whispered, not wanting to interrupt the presentation. Their guide nodded and led him and Rose over to the droids. C3PO confirmed that the Doctor and Rose were indeed members of the Rebellion, and the pilot woman left them. The Doctor and Rose turned to watch the end of the presentation.</p><p>Organa's plan was simple but daring. A small fleet of X-wing fighters would be sent to attack the Death Star. Those that got past the enemy TIE fighters would attempt to fire a proton torpedo down an exhaust vent, blowing up the reactor. It was a very small target, and they would be outnumbered. Organa finished his speech by ordering the pilots to refuel their ships and be ready to scramble in one hour.</p><p>"Wait!" Rose cried, jumping up and running to the General. The Doctor chased after her. "You can't destroy the Death Star yet, your daughter is still on board!"</p><p>"What?" Organa grabbed Rose's shoulders. "Where is Leia, what's happened?"</p><p>"I don't know where she is," Rose said quickly, "I never saw her, but we failed. Me and Ben and Luke, we failed. Vader captured us. We didn't rescue Leia, and we didn't damage the Death Star. Leia and Luke and Ben are still Vader's prisoners, the Doctor only rescued me."</p><p>Organa turned on the Doctor, eyes flashing. "You were on board the Death Star with your TARDIS and you only rescued Rose? You just <em>left </em>my daughter there?!"</p><p>"I'm sorry," the Doctor said as gently as he could. "The Death Star is huge, I had no way of knowing where anyone else was. I could only sense Rose. And I had to get Rose away, had to look after her. I could feel her fear and I couldn't bear it." He felt Rose shiver beside him.</p><p>Organa groaned and rubbed his face. "Doctor, I <em>need</em> you to rescue my daughter, but I can't hold back my pilots for long. We need time to come up with another plan to save Alderaan in case this fails. I can give you a couple of hours, then I'm sending them in." He grabbed the Doctor's hands and looked into his eyes imploringly. "You've got two hours to rescue my daughter, Doctor. For the love of the Force, please do not fail."</p><p>"And we need to rescue Ben and Luke, too," Rose added.</p><p>"I promise you, I will rescue them," the Doctor said firmly to Organa and Rose. "Rose, stay here, help Prince Organa. I'm going back to the TARDIS."</p><p>He turned to go, but Rose latched onto his arm with an angry "hey!"</p><p>"It's not safe on the Death Star," he told her.</p><p>"When has that ever stopped me?"</p><p>"Rose... You might have to face Vader again."</p><p>Her hands tightened on his arm and her pupils dilated. "I can handle it."</p><p>"If you have another panic attack I'll be distracted. I know you mean well, Rose, but you'd slow me down."</p><p>Rose's forced smile flickered and faded. "Do... Do you think I'm weak?"</p><p>"Not at all. But you're only human, my dear." He took her hand and kissed the back of it. "Stay here, help the Prince. I'll be back soon, with our friends. I promise."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Confrontation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Vader longer to wring the neck of the mentor that had betrayed him, but he had to keep things civil for Luke's sake. Obi-Wan stood before him, hands constantly twitching towards his belt, reaching for the lightsaber Vader had confiscated. Luke was slouching in his chair in the middle of the room, drumming his heels on the floor and staring glumly at his hands. Leia was standing in the corner, arms crossed haughtily, refusing to meet anyone's eyes. The introduction of Luke and Leia had gone terribly... Or brilliantly, depending on your point of view.</p><p>They were still in Vader's private chambers, the room dominated by his enormous healing tank, the glowing blue fluid inside casting a cold light over everyone's faces. Vader had left them locked in together while he had attempted to awaken Rose's power, and had returned to check on their progress when she had been stolen from him by the man in the blue box, a frustration he would deal with later. He had found Leia in hysterics, screaming at both Luke and Obi-Wan, refusing to believe that the parents who had raised her were not her blood.</p><p>"How is Rose?" Luke asked quietly.</p><p>Vader didn't take his eyes off Obi-Wan as he responded. "Angry. Dangerous. Out of control."</p><p>"That's not her fault," Obi-Wan interjected. "She hasn't learned to use the Force. And you are not the one to teach her."</p><p>"But you are? You taught me, look how that went."</p><p>"It is not <em>my </em>fault you turned to the dark side!"</p><p>"Isn't it?"</p><p>"Ben..." Luke rose and went to Obi-Wan's side, put a hand on his arm. "I'm sure you did your best, raising Anakin."</p><p>Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed and he turned to look at Luke. "But?"</p><p>"But he told me his side of the story, and I don't think what happened was his doing. He was faced with too much tragedy for anyone to cope with."</p><p>Obi-Wan breathed out shakily. "Luke, I have never, ever blamed Anakin for the creation of Vader."</p><p>"It sounded like you were just then."</p><p>"No, I was rejecting the blame. The fault lies with the Emperor. Palpatine is a murderous, treacherous snake, he's the one was manipulating everyone throughout the fall of the Republic."</p><p>"Then we should all be allies. Vader intends to overthrow the Emperor!"</p><p>A derisive snort came from the corner of the room. Leia glared at Luke, her dark eyes still sparking with indignation. "He told you that and you believed him?"</p><p>"Why shouldn't I?"</p><p>"He's a Sith."</p><p>"He's our father."</p><p>Leia drew her shoulders up, crossed her arms more tightly. "He might be <em>your </em>father but he certainly isn't mine!"</p><p>"Well that doesn't make sense, because-"</p><p>"I am not your sister, farm boy! I am the Princess of Alderaan, and you and Ben's confusion isn't going to change that!"</p><p>Luke flinched and averted his eyes, jaw clenched.</p><p>A part of Vader wanted to go to Luke and comfort him, assure him that their family would one day be whole. A part of him was delighted by the rift that had opened between his children, because he was sure he could convince Luke to blame it on Obi-Wan. He would prefer to turn both of his children to the dark side, but Luke was the more important one, the one that had presented Jedi powers.</p><p>"Give her time, son," Vader said. "It is a difficult thing for her to accept."</p><p>Leia tensed. "Do not speak as though you know me, monster."</p><p>"He's not a monster!" Luke crossed the room to stand beside Vader. "The Jedi rejected him and he had only the Sith left, he had no choice! But that doesn't matter now. He's turned back to the good side."</p><p>Obi-Wan groaned. "Luke, what has he told you? He cannot be trusted."</p><p>"He's my <em>father!"</em></p><p>"I helped raise you more than he did!"</p><p>"Yes," Vader said coldly, "because you stole him from me. You think I didn't want to raise my own children? You kidnapped them as newborns and never allowed them to even know of their own parentage."</p><p>"You would have raised them to be evil!"</p><p>"From my point of view the Jedi are evil!"</p><p>Obi-Wan's hand lashed out, and Luke's lightsaber flew into it, igniting at the same time as Vader's.</p><p>Luke threw himself between them with a cry of protest.</p><p>Vader and Obi-Wan glowered at each other across the room, each holding their saber up and ready to attack, but neither willing to do so with Luke in the way. The room was lit in sharp contrasts, a pale blue glow surrounding Obi-Wan, clashing with the bright red of Vader's weapon. Leia's face was lit half and half, her eyes wide with shock.</p><p>"Please," Luke begged, "stop. Ben, stop attacking Vader. Why can't you even consider that he might want to be our ally?"</p><p>"He's just tricking you, Luke. Search your feelings, you know it to be true."</p><p>"No. No, I don't!"</p><p>"Then you are blinded by desperation!"</p><p>"Stop trying to control him," Vader growled.</p><p>"You stop trying to manipulate him."</p><p>Vader tightened his grip on the hilt of his saber, waiting for any opportunity to kill Obi-Wan in 'self defense'. He shouldn't have spared the stubborn fool earlier, there would be no turning him. If only Luke would just get out of the way.</p><p>A deep rasping, disturbingly similar to the sound of Vader's own breathing, began to reverberate throughout the room, and an unnatural wind began to blow. Vader recognised the sound at once. The man in the blue box. He was coming to snatch Vader's new ally away, again! Vader couldn't let him take Luke!</p><p>"It's the Doctor," Luke cried joyously, and then he yelped as Vader grabbed his wrist and dragged him back to stand beside him against the wall.</p><p>"I'm not letting anyone else take you from me," Vader snapped.</p><p>"Father, it's alright," Luke said soothingly, "the Doctor won't come between us."</p><p>"Do I have your word?" Vader asked quickly, hoping to ensure Luke's loyalty.</p><p>"Of course."</p><p>Obi-Wan had run to Leia and was speaking to her rapidly.</p><p>With a sound like a cross between a thud and the clang of a bell, the strange vessel landed, becoming fully opaque. Vader envied its teleportation capabilities.</p><p>The door opened with an ominous creak, and Vader's newest enemy stepped out. He had short, spiky hair, outlandish tight-fitting clothing, and an expression of unbridled fury.</p><p><em>"You!" </em>The man snarled, glaring at Vader. <em>"What did you do to Rose?!"</em></p><p>He lifted a strange device, slender and silver, and pointed it at Vader's head. A new type of blaster?</p><p>Luke tried to move between Vader and the newcomer, but Vader threw out a protective arm, holding him back. With his other arm he held his lightsaber. Clearly this man hadn't dealt with Sith before if he thought a blaster would be an effective weapon.</p><p>"I haven't done anything to Rose," Vader said smoothly, "besides try to calm her down. Your friend's power with the Force is dangerous."</p><p>"Liar," the stranger hissed, and he activated his device. With a whirring sound the tip lit up blue.</p><p>Vader wasn't worried. He could easily block a shot from a blaster. Except... There was no laser. For a moment, he was unsure what the device had done. Then he tried to take a breath.</p><p>Somehow the chest unit of his suit had been deactivated. It was no longer assisting his breathing.</p><p>With a gasp, Vader fell to his knees, his lightsaber shutting off as it clattered to the ground.</p><p>"We can kill him now," Leia cried triumphantly, pushing Obi-Wan towards Vader.</p><p>"He'll be destroyed along with the station," the stranger said. "We have to get out of here, now. X-wings are on their way."</p><p>"Go!" Obi-Wan shouted, and the stranger pulled Leia into his ship.</p><p>Vader was slumping to the ground, writhing.</p><p><em>"Father!" </em>Luke screamed, clinging to his arm. Obi-Wan seized the boy about the waist and dragged him, shrieking and struggling, away.</p><p>Vader's vision was growing blurry. He was desperate for air.</p><p>Obi-Wan and Luke disappeared into the ship, and with the screech of strange engines it faded away.</p><p>Vader dragged off his helmet and took a shuddering breath. His damaged, burnt lungs weren't efficient enough to extract sufficient oxygen from the air. He was suffocating.</p><p>He fixed his dimming vision on his healing tank. Tears were streaming down his face. With a groan, he lurched across the ground towards his salvation.</p><p><em>The Force is with me, </em>he thought, he prayed, <em>the Force is always with me.</em></p><p>The suit wasn't powered by oxygen, his arms and legs still had strength. He dragged himself arm over arm across the floor. He was going to black out any second. His chest burned.</p><p>His head hit the cool glass of the healing tank. He reached up, scrabbling blindly for the door handle. His vision was completely black now. He was sick with vertigo. He couldn't see, couldn't orient himself!</p><p>
  <em>I'm going to die.</em>
</p><p>He would never get to know his children.</p><p>
  <em>Luke...</em>
</p><p>At least he would see Padme again.</p><p>
  <em>What will she think of me?</em>
</p><p>Then his hand found the handle and he yanked it down, hauled the door open, heaved himself into the tank. The door sealed automatically, the healing liquid flowed around him, enveloping him. The oxygen mask was hanging just in front of him and Vader found it and pressed it to his mouth, dragging in deep, longing lungfuls of concentrated oxygen, pure enough to fuel even his inefficient lungs. Relief flowed through him as warmth gradually returned to his body. His heart was racing, muscles shaking. He'd never been so frightened in his entire life.</p><p>Beneath the fear was rage. Obi-Wan had abandoned him to a slow death <em>again. </em>Obi-Wan had taken his children from him <em>again.</em></p><p>Once he was healed, Darth Vader would seek revenge.</p>
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<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Battle Begins</h2></a>
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    <p>Bail shifted his arm in its sling and grumbled as pain spiked through his shoulder. But the physical pain was nothing compared to the guilt that threatened to overwhelm him. The Doctor hadn't arrived back, and he'd sent the X-wings on their mission anyway. He'd waited for three hours before he couldn't bear to let the Death Star travel any closer to his home planet. His forces were battling its defences at this very minute, trying to get past the TIE fighters and destroy the great space station. And Leia was still on board. Bail had doomed his own daughter to execution, or his own fleet to destruction, depending on which way the battle went.</p><p>He was sitting in the dimly lit destruction of what had once been the projector room. When he'd refused to wait any longer for the TARDIS to return Rose had flown into a rage and attacked with the Force, hurling his guards out of the way, breaking his arm, and wrecking every piece of equipment in the room before someone had managed to sedate her.</p><p>Bail took a swig from the bottle of whiskey he was holding and grimaced at the taste. Unable to cope with the thought of killing his own daughter, he'd left his top lieutenant in charge of the X-wing attack, and retreated to this ruined and empty room to nurse his sorrow. He was sitting slumped at the one remaining upright table in the room, hiding from his responsibilities in a shadowy corner.</p><p>There was a familiar, loud, and annoying sound intruding on his vacant numbness. Someone shouting for him, probably, wanting orders for the X-wing attack.<br/>
"Ask Lieutenant Ackbar!" He shouted in response, and then he tried to rest his head on his arms and yelped as he bumped his fracture. Struggling to hold back tears, he took another deep draught from the bottle. He couldn't even lie his head down without pain.</p><p>That annoying sound was still there. It wasn't one of his subordinates shouting for his attention. It was...</p><p>The whiskey bottle shattered on the concrete floor, spirits spraying out into a wide puddle, fragments of glass spilling everywhere.</p><p>That sound was the TARDIS's engines. The rectangular blue ship was coalescing into view just a few metres away from where Bail sat.</p><p>"Please please please," Bail begged, getting to his feet, heedless of the sharp glass beneath his boots. "Oh, please please please..." He wasn't sure who he was pleading with, but if the Force truly was with him then his daughter had to be on that ship.</p><p>The door opened and the Doctor emerged, his eyes blazing, his face grim.</p><p>"What happened?" Bail barked. "Have you got her?"</p><p>"Father?"</p><p>Bail's heart lurched at the familiar voice, and then he was running, sprinting towards the young woman now filling the TARDIS's doorway, shoving the Doctor aside, grabbing her with his good arm. Leia laughed along with him as he crushed her in a one-armed hug..</p><p>"You're alive!" He gasped, tears streaming down his face. "You're safe! He found you!"</p><p>There were other voices coming from within the ship - Luke was shouting, his voice high and agitated, and Obi-Wan was trying to calm him - but Bail paid them no mind. His daughter was safe. Nothing else mattered. Nothing.</p><p>Except... His home planet, defenceless, with his wife supervising an evacuation that would never be complete. The Death Star drawing ever closer.</p><p>Bail abruptly stepped back from Leia. "Are you alright?" He asked her breathlessly. "Have you been harmed in any way?"</p><p>"I'm fine," she reassured him. "The Doctor told me there's an attack underway."</p><p>"Yes, and I'm supposed to be in charge of it!" Bail turned and raced from the room, Leia and the Doctor hot on his heels.</p><p>~~~</p><p>Biggs Darklighter was surrounded by stunning views of deep space decorated with a glittering cascade of stars, the verdant planet Alderaan glowing in the light of its sun, the great mechanical Death Star advancing towards its prey. All of this was visible through the windshield of the X-wing Darklighter was piloting, but he ignored it, focused instead on the pixellated symbols shown on his digital viewer. A bead of sweat ran down his brow. The little dot that represented his own ship on his viewer was being chased by three other dots. Harmless looking, tiny dots, but they represented three very real, very deadly TIE fighters.</p><p>"Lieutenant," Darklighter gasped into his radio, "I don't know if we can do this. Their defence is too strong."</p><p><em>It's me, </em>came the response amid a crackle of static, and Darklighter's spirits rose at once.</p><p>"Prince Organa! You're back!"</p><p>
  <em>That's right, son, and I've got good news. Leia has been rescued. She's right here beside me. There are no more hostages on board the Death Star, so don't hold back, you hit that thing with everything you've got!</em>
</p><p>There was another crackle as the radio switched to the squadron-wide frequency.</p><p><em>Gold Squadron, </em>Organa said, his voice commanding, <em>I want you to start your attack run now. There's no time to lose. Destroy that space station before it reaches Alderaan!</em></p><p>Darklighter swooped his X-wing into a nose-dive, following the Gold Leader ship. Two other X-wings zoomed in on his left and right, forming an arrow-shaped formation with the Leader at the front. And with those screaming engines that sounded like a battle cry the trio of TIE fighters, in a v-shaped formation, closed in behind, turning the arrow into a diamond.</p><p>As his ship hurtled towards the endless metal hull of the gigantic space station Darklighter wrenched the controls, pulling abruptly out of the dive once he was in the relative safety of a trench in the hull's surface, hidden from most of the surface cannons. He and his formation flew carefully along the metallic trench. It led straight to the exhaust port down which they needed to fire torpedoes.</p><p>The target was only two metres wide. Almost impossible, even with a targeting computer. But they had to try.</p><p>The surface cannons weren't firing, presumably because they didn't want to hit their own ships, but the TIE fighters weren't holding back. Laser blasts whizzed past in every direction, too many and too fast to dodge. Darklighter swallowed and wiped his sweaty palm on his flight suit. This could be it. Only through sheer luck could he make it along this trench without being blasted.</p><p><em>This is Gold Four, I need backup! </em>Came a panicked shout over the radio, and then the X-wing to the left of Darklighter's exploded in a spray of sparks and metal, the pilot's final scream echoing horribly through Darklighter's headset.</p><p><em>Stay on target, </em>ordered Gold Leader coldly. He was asking his men to die for him, but Darklighter understood the reasons. They had to risk everything to destroy this monstrosity, this planet killer.</p><p>The X-wing to Darklighter's right was hit next, its engine damaged so that it went spinning out of control, plummeting down to burst into a fireball against the Death Star's hull. Darklighter shuddered.</p><p>
  <em>Stay on target!</em>
</p><p>Now it was just Darklighter and Gold Leader left in the squadron. Red Squadron had attempted an attack run before them and been decimated, their handful of remaining X-wings regrouping far above the fighting. They would take the next turn, and so it would repeat, until the Death Star was destroyed or there were no X-wings left to fight.</p><p>The exhaust port was within view. Darklighter activated his targeting computer. Its scanner honed in on the opening and beeped insistently once the trajectory was set. Darklighter and Gold Leader both launched their torpedoes, and Darklighter crossed his fingers, hoping against hope the strike would hit home.</p><p>Both torpedoes struck the hull to the side of the port, their explosive power tearing apart metal, but it was barely a scratch against the incredible size of their foe and they hadn't hit the target. The explosion was big enough to engulf Gold Leader's ship. Darklighter was now the only remaining member of Gold Squadron.</p><p>"I know, R2D2," Darklighter groaned in response to the rapid beeping of the astromech droid equipped to his ship, "but we've got to keep trying."</p><p>It was now just one X-wing with no protective formation against three manoeuvrable TIE-fighters. Darklighter would be the next to die. The realisation struck home just as the laser blast did, and the next thing he knew Darklighter was spinning off into space, his ship out of control, the engine ruined. The fuel would ignite any second and tear him apart.</p><p>"This is Gold Five," he gasped into the radio, "I'm about to go down. Gold Squadron has been destroyed. We've failed."</p><p><em>I'm sending rescue ships your way, </em>came the reply, but Darklighter just laughed.</p><p>"Don't bother, there's no way anyone could get to me in time. Focus on the attack. Red Squadron still has a chance."</p><p>There was a paused as Prince Organa processed what he was hearing, and Darklighter didn't envy him. He wouldn't have a clue what to say to a man facing his final moments.</p><p><em>Do you have any family? </em>Organa asked at last. <em>I will tell them of your bravery.</em></p><p>"No. But you could tell my best friend. His name is Luke Skywalker and he lives on Tattooine. Always said he'd come an join me out here one day. You know, I wish he had... If anyone could hit a target this small, it'd be him."</p><p>Darklighter closed his eyes and thought of home. Of binary sunsets and desert sands. Of growing up alongside Luke, racing each other in their skyhoppers around the crags and canyons. He'd never known a better pi-</p><p>~~~</p>
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